Blog – Grid 2
The Freedom Summer of 1964
Marking the 50th Anniversary Each spring, around our seder tables, we retell the story of the Exodus from Egypt, our ancestor’s journey to freedom. In revisiting, year after year, this ancient story, we are given the opportunity to pause and appreciate how far we have come. But as we celebrate our people’s miraculous journey of […]
Passion and Convictions
Parshat Balak 5774 At the end of this week’s Torah portion, Parshat Balak we find the Israelites encamped at Shittin. There the men are tempted – you might say propositioned — by the Moabite women. In what scholars believe may have been part of the cult of Baal Peor, the Israelite men and Moabite women […]
The Blessing of Dogs
Sha-Bark in the Park This year, studying the books of I and II Samuel, we have repeatedly encountered phrases that insult people by likening them to a dog. As pet owners, it is clear that these derogatory comments can only be explained as ignorance. And that is exactly what it was. During the biblical […]
Passover & Klal Yisrael
Coming Together As A Community During the last election, Jewish supporters of Barak Obama pointed to the fact that he was the first President to hold a seder in the White House. They can now also take pride in the fact that Obama is the first President to make a pre-Passover pilgrimage to Israel. As […]
Responding to Newtown
At the beginning of this Shabbat’s haftarah portion, the prophet Ezekiel takes two sticks, one representing the tribes of Judah and the other the Northern Tribes, and holds them together as if they were one. Holding the sticks aloft, signaling a future strong and united Israel, the prophet offers hope to the Israelites exiled in […]