Rabbi's Week in Review Blog

As I write this week’s blog, it has been 667 days since the brutal attack on Israelis at a kibbutz near the Gaza border and at a music festival. About 1,200 were killed. Of the hostages taken, it is estimated that 50 are still held by Hamas, with 27 of those dead. Gaza is in rubble, with virtually every hospital, school, university, and mosque destroyed. Approximately 60,000 Palestinians have been killed; of those, about 20,000 were...Read more...

Last week, I had the honor of being one of the speakers at a program honoring the late Congressman John Lewis.  He was the civil rights leader who famously and courageously crossed the Edmund Pettis bridge in Alabama, suffering physical harm to fight against racism in the south, and coining the now famous phrase - “Good Trouble.”  Last Thursday was his “Yahrzeit.” I was gratified to see so many different, diverse communities...Read more...

This week, I’m sharing two important pieces that speak to current issues in our country.

First is a letter recently published in the Kansas City Star, written by the board of Missouri Faith Voices—on which I serve—and addressed to Senator Josh Hawley. The letter speaks to the deep harm that will result from legislation passed by Congress last week. I believe it expresses the feelings and fears shared by many. Read the...Read more...

Honestly, I don’t know what to write this week.  I go to bed with the announcement of a cease fire between Israel and Iran, and wake up learning it could not even hold for a day. We continue to be fed the delusion that there is any action of war that can make us safer.

Israelis can never stray too far from bomb shelters. Hostages, those still alive we pray, and those whose lives are lost, remain in Gaza. Hostage families...Read more...

Something good to talk about: this past Erev Shabbat we celebrated Pride Month with Pride Shabbat. Ga’avah KC sponsored this wonderful evening with our Congregation Kol Ami family, Beth Torah, and Jewish Experience.  

Thanks particularly to Brad Ordo as the Community Chair for Ga’avah. We are so lucky at Kol Ami that he is also our Kehilah Vice-President. Beyond his leadership he is always the first one to engage in any task...Read more...