Commentary - Blog
The Shahid’s Sanctuary – a critique of Zoosman’s “The Cost of Revenge… Israel’s Response to Hamas”
Dear Cantor Zoosman. Thank you for writing the thoughtful and provocative piece “The Cost of Revenge, A Cantor’s Critique of Israel’s Response to Hamas”. I admire your activism toward the elimination of capital punishment. I have been following your Ohalah posts on the topic from afar. If I wasn’t already overextended I would be active...
Read MoreA Hawk, a Dove, and Hamas’ True Motivation
A Hawk, a Dove, and Hamas’ True Motivation My friend and colleague, Rabbi Jan Salzman, said shortly after October 7th 2023 that there are both a Hawk and Dove residing within her head and heart in equal measure. I believe many of us can relate. We are living through a challenging time in which previously...
Read MoreCan We Care For Our Enemy?
Caring About The Enemy A facebook slogan that has been somewhat viral goes, “I can feel heartbroken for two peoples at the same time”. Among friends and colleagues, especially those of us who are politically progressive, spiritually and emotionally sensitive, and morally conscientious there has been this debate of late: “Is it ok to care...
Read MoreHope Against All Odds, Why read the Binding of Isaac story on Rosh Hashana?
Sermon, Rosh HaShana 2nd Day 5784 Bet Israel Masorti Synagogue, Natanya Israel Rabbi Reuben Modek וַיְהִ֗י אַחַר֙ הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֔לֶּה וְהָ֣אֱלֹהִ֔ים נִסָּ֖ה אֶת־אַבְרָהָ֑ם וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלָ֔יו אַבְרָהָ֖ם וַיֹּ֥אמֶר הִנֵּֽנִי׃ (בראשית כב״ א פרשת וירא) Some time afterward, God put Abraham to the test, saying to him, “Abraham.” He answered, ”Hineni”, Here I am. What was the test?…. The binding of...
Read MoreHanukkah, Hope and the Broadcast of Tragedy
In the Talmud (Bavli Shabbat) we read that the reason for lighting Hanukkah candles is Pirsumah D’Nisa, פרסומא דניסה, “advertising the miracle” (of Hanukkah). We light the Menorah on a window sill in order to make it visible to the world. The lights are meant as a reminder that the Jewish people suffered oppression by...
Read Moreהמגילה הראשונה
החברה הישראלית יהודית מאפשרת לדתיים הקיצוניים שליטה בנכס הלאומי המשותף לכולנו – תורת ישראל. שמעתי בהפגנת מחאה דובר מסורתי אומר: ״הדתיים הקיצוניים גנבו לנו את התורה ועלינו לגנוב אותה מהם בחזרה״. איך זה קרה? ראש הממשלה דוד בן גוריון מסר את ניהולם של נישואים, גירושים, קבורה, גיור, וכדומה בידי הרבנות הראשית המנוהלת על ידי המיעוט האורתודוקסי....
Read MoreRECLAIMING OUR SCROLLS שתי מגילות
The First Scroll, Israeli Democracy and the Secular Religious Impasse To read the Hebrew version click here. Early on when the modern state of Israel was founded, Israeli society has enabled the extreme Jewish religious right to assume legal and cultural control over our people’s most cherished collective possession, the Torah. Recently I heard a...
Read MoreWhat COVID Revealed, a path to holistic health and wellness. Parts 1, 2, 3
In an interview I listened to on WGBH’s Innovation Hub with Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, the dean of the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, the Doctor shared that according to a study (from April 2020) of COVID hospitalizations in New York City, obesity was statistically more important in determining hospitalization for COVID patients than...
Read MoreTzror Hakhayyim, a Destination Beyond Life, Space and Time
As a secular Israeli child, my training in prayer was none. I had no reason to step into a synagogue and less so to pray. Loyal to the political and ideological indoctrination of my youth, I had consciously attempted to keep myself “untainted“ by exposure to Jewish classical text and most especially to liturgy. Therefore,...
Read MoreThe interfaith wedding conundrum, a letter to a colleague
Dear Rabbi Evan J. Krame, Thank you for sharing your critical reflections on handling aspects of the interfaith wedding. I appreciate your search for a coherent framework for interfaith weddings that goes beyond “just accommodating”. As you mentioned, many a Jewish partner in an interfaith couple present the need to satisfy their relatives’ or their...
Read MoreA Prophecy Worth Its Fulfillment
Passover 5782 What is a prophesy? A story about the future. And a self-fulfilling prophecy? By definition, it is a story that generates a future. This common wisdom about the self-fulfilling potential of articulated predictions, is especially apt on Passover, the holiday of “Telling”. “Haggada”, the booklet we read during the Seder dinner, literally means...
Read MoreNot Guilty, But Not Right!
A society and its culture are measured amongst other things by how it regulates killing. The recent not-guilty verdict for a teen shooter claiming self-defense raises great concern about the direction of our American society. We can learn a great deal from the experience of the ancient Israelites. Their law allowed killing, even when forbidding...
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