Rabbi's Week in Review Blog

The famous quote from Rabbi Hillel goes, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am for myself only, what am I? And if not now, when?” I have tended to focus more attention on the second tenet: “If I am for myself only ...” 

I firmly believe we should show up for others simply because it is the right thing to do.  Related to this idea, I have avoided the idea that we know the suffering of others because of...Read more...

We now see Passover 5781 in our rearview mirror, yet we know that, after the celebration of our exodus from Egypt, we have many trials and tribulations ahead from there in our very long history. After centuries of slavery and/or persecution, we are grateful for being free to make choices about our own future, religious and otherwise. Yet we know that the scourge of anti-Semitism is real and an ongoing threat.

After more than a year of...Read more...

A Midrash on this week’s Torah portion explains that in Messianic times, when prayers will no longer be necessary, we will still be obligated to recite prayers of gratitude (Vayikra Rabbah 9:7). This was the quote I chose for my rabbinic ordination, as prayers of gratitude are my favorite prayers. (See Modim Anachnu Lach, in the Amidah.) You can never say thank you too many times.

As we approach our Passover celebration and a time...Read more...

The American Jazz Museum presented a wonderful concert this past week — jazz saxophonist Tia Fuller, who not only is a wonderful technical player but also gives a concert infused with deep emotional feel and meaningful content. It was an important message for both the just completed Black History Month and the present Women’s History Month. (Full disclosure: My daughter-in-law is the director of external affairs and communication for...Read more...

During this past week, the 50th anniversary of my bar mitzvah occurred (you are welcome to do the math on your own). While I always reflect on my bar mitzvah each year when my Torah portion arrives on the Jewish calendar, I had not really thought about it in terms of 50 years. It was actually a friend from childhood, who celebrated his bar mitzvah one week prior to my own, who reminded me that our bar mitzvah celebrations had turned...Read more...