by Rabbi Rami Shapiro On the Shabbat of Sukkot, this year October 19, we read the book of Kohelet, Ecclesiastes. But why read a book that famously disclaims the “vanity” of life on the holiday called “time of our rejoicing?” The answer lies in understanding and superseding a bad translation and finding...
Outrage has been growing at the United States Department of State’s website choosing to feature as its home slide for several days in October a speech by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called “Being a Christian Leader” delivered to an organization called the Association of Christian Counselors. The outrage is, understandably, focused...
“And in towns across the country It’s color that divides When in working men and ladies We could find our common side” What a respite the last 10 days has been. Not from the barrage of unimaginably bad news and developments. Or of simple and plain cruelty in the world. That sadly...
by Rabbi Benay Lappe in chevruta with Laynie Soloman Photo credit: Jess Benjamin, 2019 The Jewish new year season tends to have one “star of the show”—teshuva, the practice of recognizing whom we’ve harmed and repairing that harm, addressing where we might have fallen short in becoming the people we want to...
הִנְנוּ עוֹמְדִים בּוֹשִׁים וְנִכְלָמִים בִּפְנֵי חֲלוֹם אֲשֶׁר נֻפַּץ. אֵין מָנוֹס מִלְּהוֹדוֹת בְּאַשְׁמוֹתֵינוּ, בְּחַטְּאוֹתֵינוּ, וּבְפִשְׁעֵנוּ. עַל אֲשֶׁר עָמַדְנוּ בַּצַּד וְלֹא הִתְעָרַבְנוּ כַּאֲשֶׁר רָאִינוּ אֶת הָעַוְלָה שֶׁנֶּעֶשְׂתָה. עַל אֲשֶׁר יָשַׁבְנוּ מְכֻנָּסִים בְּתוֹךְ שַׁלְוָתֵינוּ בְּלִי מֵשִׂים כַּאֲשֶׁר הַצָּרָה, הַשִּׂנְאָה, הֶחַמַס לֹא כֻּוְּנָה מַמָּשׁ אֵלֵינוּ. עַל אֲשֶׁר רָאִינוּ אֶת שְׁכֵנֵנוּ מֻתְקָפִים, מוּבָלִים כְּבוּלִים וּכְלוֹאִים,נִרְמָסִים וְנִדְרָסִים וְהִבַּעְנוּ אֶת צַעֲרֵנוּ בְּלִי לִמְחוֹת בָּרַבִּים. עַל אֲשֶׁר בָּטַחְנוּ בְּאָשְׁיוֹת הֶחָזוֹן...
About a week ago, one of my coworkers came into my office, eager to show me what had just come in the mail: a new calendar. Now, I appreciate a good calendar as much as the next guy – recent favorites have featured The Golden Girls, Adventure Time, and Pokémon, and I...
This Guest Post comes from Joshua Fingerhut, an actor and photographer based in Los Angeles. He is about to start a Graduate School Program in Psychology. You do not know me, and you do. While we have most likely never met, I could very well be your son, brother, or friend. I...
This Guest Post comes from Jordan Rothschild, who is a student at Swarthmore College, originally from New York City, and a passionate advocate of Jewish continuity and a two-state solution. I listen to a lot of Jewish music, especially on Spotify. For those who are not familiar, Jewish music on Spotify consists largely of recordings...
(Crossposted to Mah Rabu.) After a little bit of last-minute shifting, the results of the Knesset election are final, and that means it’s time to announce the results of September Madness! Thanks to everyone who played! Three parties (Zehut, Noam, and Kol Yisrael Achim) dropped out before Election Day, which means that...
I recently returned to the Jewish Community Center (JCC) – Milwaukee from a summer-long lapse in my membership to find that the entrance had been entirely revamped. There were new, electronically automated gates and doors; it was hard to figure out how to enter the place. The JCC employee behind the newly...