A Darkness that Can Be Felt - Interfaith Dialogue in the Haze
06/07/2023 01:43:02 PM
Once a month I take part in an interfaith conversation with a group of Christians, Hindus and Muslims. Over the time that our Interfaith Council has met, we have learned to trust each other and become friends. Our discussions are open-hearted. Despite...Read more...
The Five Minute Rabbi
05/31/2023 09:29:47 AM
Don’t read this- listen to it right here!
The Torah says (Exodus, parshat Mishpatim): Six Days you shall labor and perform all of your...Read more...
Shavuot: Seven Weeks to Freedom
05/23/2023 03:11:31 PM
What is Shavuot? Well, seven weeks ago we celebrated the anniversary of the Exodus. Freedom from slavery and the horrors of Pharaoh’s Egypt. ...Read more...
In the Desert: Again. Parshat BaMidbar
05/14/2023 07:02:22 PM
In Numbers, the fourth book of the Torah, we join the Jewish people on their journey through the howling wilderness on our way to the Promised Land. We encounter moments of joy and challenges of rebellion and disaster. But through it all, though long...Read more...
The Secret of Jewish Observance
05/08/2023 10:52:09 PM
Contemplating the Conclusion of the Jewish Year, 5783
Looking at Jewish spiritual life, it’s really astonishing just how much stuff we do. I mean look at it: We start the year by blowing loud blasts on Ram’s...Read more...
Lag B’Omer! The Holiday of Hiddenness
05/03/2023 05:33:17 AM
No texts, no prayers, no services…. And no real name! Lag B’Omer actually means “thirty three days of the Omer Count”!
So what gives?
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The Five Minute Rabbi: What to Know about...Counting the Omer!
05/02/2023 05:36:38 PM
See/hear this week's message on the go:
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Israel: It’s Not Complicated
04/25/2023 01:26:23 PM
It is very rare to see positive coverage of Israel in the world press. There are too many examples and too much explanation is required to expose how profound the distortion is for this short message. But as one who has been to Israel thirty times (at...Read more...
Take the Clean Speech Challenge - Together with Jewish Organizations and Shuls from all over Jersey!
04/18/2023 08:45:44 AM
Who is the one who desires life, who loves their days and sees good? It is the one who guards their tongue from speaking ill, and their lips from guile, turning aside from hurtfulness, seeking peace and pursuing peace.
-Psalm 34:13-15
Judaism doesn’t...Read more...
Where is our miracle? D’var Torah for the Seventh Day of Pesach
04/10/2023 11:23:14 AM
On the Seventh Day of Pesach which begins Tuesday night, we celebrate the Parting of the Sea of Reeds.
The story goes like this: Pharaoh and Egypt have finally released Israel. We head out, mustering at Ramses and then...Read more...
All Beginnings are Hard... D'var Torah for Genesis, 5783
10/19/2022 05:18:52 AM
ויאמר אלוהים יהי אור- ויהי אור
And G-d said: Let there by light- and there was light!
As we set out on a new Jewish year, the...Read more...
Being Led: A Story for Sukkot
10/11/2022 07:53:29 PM
Update this content.
Being Led: A Story for Sukkot
This is a story about the great Rabbi, author and community leader Avraham ben Yitzchak Antibi of Aleppo (Syria), 1765-1858. Rabbi Antibi’s great accomplishment was leading the Jewish community of Aleppo through a terrible crisis following a devastating earthquake. This is a lighter hearted story...Read more...
This Sukkah /Self We Build
10/06/2022 03:03:36 PM
The holiday of Sukkot follows Yom Kippur by only a few days. Why do we head out to live in booths right after the yearly ordeal of purification and renewal?
Maybe it’s like this: On the...Read more...
I'm Starvin'! What's Spiritual About That??
09/28/2022 01:14:43 PM
The Voice of the Belly and the Still Small Voice: A Preparation for Yom Kippur
In every book, movie, comic or even spoof about a spiritual quest, the seeker after truth is at first confused by their encounter with the master. I'm dating myself here but one of the most iconic spiritual master/seeker disconnects was when aspiring Jedi Luke Skywalker meets the great Jedi Master...Read more...
The Ten Reasons why we Sound the Shofar: Video Series with Rabbi Rudin!
09/21/2022 01:02:03 PM
Want to make Rosh HaShana a deeper spiritual experience? Let the Shofar Guide You!!
Chapter One: Creating the Sound of Renewal and Return
Chapter Two: Ten Calls...Read more...
Apples and Honey and So Much More! Celebrating Rosh HaShana and Setting an Example
09/13/2022 02:56:39 PM
The Instructions
09/05/2022 07:01:12 PM
All of These Words of this Torah shall be in your heart…
-Deuteronomy 6
Read more... Elul: The King is in the Field
08/23/2022 12:30:58 PM
The image of the High Holidays is that G-d's Presence is more revealed than at any other time. The theology: is G-d immanent (close) or transcendent (distant), can an omnipresent G-d be "more present" at one time or place than any other etc. doesn't really come up. ...Read more...
Parshat Ekev- Check It!
08/15/2022 03:47:44 PM
Parshat Ekev can be called "the Parsha of the Little Things". The so-called minor Mitzvas that we tend to overlook or even ignore. This D'var is dedicated to them... l'chaim to the small things- by which we live.
I see it all the time. ...Read more...
Nachamu:What is Grief? What is Comfort?
08/09/2022 06:08:48 PM
When we grieve, we traditionally tear our garments. Why?
Jacob, Job, King David, the Judeans at the walls facing the...Read more...
Read more... The Three Weeks Begin...
07/18/2022 02:11:49 PM
The Jewish calendar is the photo album of our history, beliefs, doctrines and rituals. Go through the Jewish year and you've pretty much got a picture of what we're all about.
Take the next three weeks for example. These are where we store our most painful...Read more...
A Prayer for the 17th of Tammuz
07/11/2022 12:48:21 PM
For all that we are a people of memory, we don't venerate the past. Instead we live our history through the here and now by remembering and focusing on how ancient lessons can help move us forward.
This Sunday we commemorate the 17th of Tammuz which begins the "Between the Straits", the 3 Weeks leading up to the Black Fast Day, Tisha B'Av. Why do we need to relive the dark days when our Temple was destroyed, we...Read more...
July Fourth and the Seventeenth of Tammuz A Warning from an Ancient People
07/05/2022 11:46:12 PM
Dedicated l’ilui...Read more...
In Tribute: Temple HaTikvah - a Legacy of Welcome
06/27/2022 08:13:09 AM
This week's D'var is dedicated to Temple HaTikvah, the shul that made me, whose farewell gala last night both broke my heart and filled me with new hope and inspiration. The holy sparks created by this amazing community will continue to inspire through the ongoing Jewish connection and community-building of the generations of beautiful Yidden who carry and live the truths of this holy Kehilla. We welcome those families who...Read more...
The Mitzvah of Tzitzit: Fringe Benefits
06/22/2022 10:43:32 AM
Adonai said to Moses: Speak to the Israelite people and tell them to make fringes on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, placing within the fringes a cord of royal blue. When you see the fringes, you will remember all of HaShem's Mitzvot to do them and you will...Read more...
Parshat B'Ha'alotecha: Stop Kvetching. No, really.
06/12/2022 04:19:50 PM
Negativity, especially negative language, has literally brought on disaster. In this week's parsha, what begins as an unspecified complaint about the trek to the Promised Land- despite the clouds of glory that shelter the nation- devolves into a ruckus about the heavenly Manna which nourishes the people and tastes...Read more...
The Battles of Summer
06/08/2022 12:51:30 PM
The Jewish holiday cycle has ended with the last morsel of cheesecake on Shavuot. Now, we get to have some fun in the sun... relaxation, recreation...
Yes, but....
Is it just me or is "yes, but" what Yiddishkeit (Judaism) says...Read more...
Read more... Climbing Sinai: Preparing for Shavuot
05/15/2022 05:49:33 PM
Coming in this year on June 4th, the two-day festival (one day in Israel) really wraps it up....or does it?
Shavuot, falling Seven Weeks to the day after Passover, connects Freedom to Freedom.
Freedom in the Passover sense means freedom from. From what? From...Read more...
Lag BaOmer- Up in Flames?
05/09/2022 03:26:43 PM
Since the Middle Ages, the Jewish School Year has concluded with a hike into the woods and bonfires into the night. Lag BaOmer certainly has religious and mystical overtones: it commemorates how Jewish learning went on despite the Roman decree of death to anyone...Read more...
Shalom in the Home- and in Israel! Happy Israel Independence Day!
05/01/2022 09:44:56 PM
I had the great privilege of subbing in our religious school this Sunday and wanted to share how a discussion about Israel became a deeper discussion about family harmony and peace.
The students were asked to plan an itinerary for a trip to Israel; but a trip like no...Read more...
The Omer Challenge: Mission of Transformation!
04/26/2022 12:21:29 PM
The Omer and Self-Improvement go together like thunder and lightning! Each day is another spiritual opportunity for growth. Take a look at the below table and with just one small spiritual challenge each day you'll be amazed!
Omer: Days...Read more...How Shall I be a Jew? Let Me Count the Ways: Guide to Sefirat HaOmer
04/19/2022 08:04:17 PM
There are seven weeks between the freedom we won in Egypt, given by G-d, and the freedom we achieved at Sinai, receiving the Torah.
This sacred history isn't a bit of...Read more...
Passover- The Two Ways out of Slavery
04/13/2022 01:03:57 PM
Every year we are told to see ourselves as being freed from Egypt. The Baal Shem Tov said that the minute we stop leaving Egypt, we are back there again- that is how pernicious and "sticky" slavery is.
The way out is, according to the Torah, to head out to the...Read more...
Pesach? Really? Already? No way!
04/03/2022 10:02:35 AM
Dear Adath Shalom Mishpocho, shalom!
Pesach? Really? Already? No way!
This must have been what it was like back in...Read more...