Please forgive me. It appears my absence from social media left some of you wondering where I am. I’m in New Jersey, serving as the rabbi of Congregation Beth Tikvah (CBT) in Marlton. I’ve just started my fifth month of what I hope will be five years of dedicated service in the House of Hope. … Read more
I’m pleased to share two of my sermons from the High Holidays: The sermon I delivered on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, “Happy Families Forgive,” was posted on The Wisdom Daily website in their High Holiday sermon series, featuring sermons by alumni of Clal’s clergy training programs. My Yom Kippur morning sermon, “Don’t Detach … Read more
I thought my relationship with Resurgens Orthopaedics would be more of an affair than a long-term thing. I was wrong. You may remember the story of how it all started. Perhaps you read about the incident involving two dogs, one leash, a fire hydrant and Hailey, which I blogged about twice: after the fall, when … Read more
“The only really interesting questions are the unanswerable ones.” —Jacob Needleman I’m not sure why I’ve been vexed lately by the question of why human beings seem so invested in deciding who is in our group and who is the “other.” Maybe it’s the seemingly endless rounds of voting to choose the Speaker of the … Read more
Yesterday at 1:15 PM, students, teachers and alumni from the Jewish Theological Seminary gathered in New York City and on Zoom to observe the 5th yahrzeit (anniversary of the death) of Rabbi Neil Gillman, may his memory be a blessing. I was teaching at The Weber School in Atlanta, and when class ended at 1:30 … Read more
I was surprised to see in my Facebook memories that it has been more than four years since my teacher Rabbi Neil Gillman z”l died, and four years since I wrote about his influence on me as a teacher for the Rabbis Without Borders blog. I guess my sense of the passage of time has … Read more
This week, while concentrating on creative writing and editorial responsibilities, I decided it was time to send out a long-overdue newsletter. If you haven’t already subscribed to my quarterly newsletter, From My Writer’s Notebook, please visit the home page, scroll down and subscribe. It’s as easy as clicking a button! In other news, my post … Read more
As I prepare to co-host a study session on Zoom at the virtual Tikkun Leyl Shavuot next week, I remember back to when getting ready for a Zoom festival was not part of the routine. Here’s a taste from my post on the Rabbis Without Borders blog from last Sukkot, October 1, 2020: The 3 … Read more
In case you missed my post on the Rabbis Without Borders blog last week–perhaps you were enjoying Thanksgiving with your family–I’m sharing the link here. It’s always a good time to feel grateful: Two months ago, I purchased a Dyson vacuum for my daughter for her 25th birthday. She was thrilled and posted about what … Read more
My post on the Rabbis Without Borders blog this month is a personal narrative, in which I recount my attempt to find wholeness in the months leading up to the High Holy Days: A few months ago I realized I hadn’t been myself for a long time. I’d been under a lot of stress for … Read more