Rabbi's Week in Review - 1/29/2024
01/29/2024 03:05:48 PM
To say that 2024 is an important year for our country is an understatement. I feel that there has never been a more crucial time for the future of the United States in my lifetime.
Recently, two things have reminded me of the urgency of the moment. One was the announcement of a campaign to seek an amendment to the Missouri Constitution, ensconcing abortion as a right. Over the next few months, there will be efforts to put this to...Read more...
Rabbi's Week in Review - 1/22/2024
01/22/2024 04:48:00 PM
This past Shabbat, we shared feelings and perspectives on the ongoing war between Israel and Palestine — or Gaza or Hamas, depending on whom you ask. This discussion was all at once difficult, emotional, respectful and, most of all, important.
It was clear that there was no agreement about the best path forward, about how Israel should or should not respond to the terrorist acts of Hamas on October 7. Is Israel doing too much...Read more...
Rabbi's Week in Review - 1/15/2024
01/15/2024 03:15:55 PM
After a couple of morning meetings Monday, with the temp at -2 degrees F, it’s cold out there. I am approaching the cold as mind over matter — that if I can get myself to think that it’s not such a big deal, then it won’t be a big deal.
Part of this thought process is represented in Rabbi Jill Hammer’s The Jewish Book of Days, which we're reading on a regular basis during the weekday-morning service. In the...Read more...
Rabbi's Week in Review - 1/8/2024
01/08/2024 03:40:02 PM
The main feature of my past week was contracting Covid for the second time. Thank G-d, the symptoms were not too serious, and I know I’ll be fine. However, it did make me (if only temporarily) a bit of a pariah in the community. Nobody says it quite like that, and it’s very temporary. At the same time, I kept thinking how Miriam and others were banished from the encampment during 40 years wandering in the wilderness.
For me, it...Read more...
Rabbi's Week in Review - 1/2/2024
01/02/2024 12:48:39 PM
This week we enter into the new (secular) year 2024. While it is not within the spiritual rhythm of our Jewish calendar, it does provide a time to consider what will happen in the year to come, and how we can impact the coming year for good. Coming off a difficult 2023 with the threats to democracy in our own country and the horrific violence impacting our Jewish brethren in Israel as well as innocent Palestinian civilians, I am thinking...Read more...
Rabbi's Week in Review - 12/26/2023
12/26/2023 12:41:59 PM
As I write this, Fay and I are returning from a memorable trip to Chile. While I could write solely about our time in Patagonia and its awesome, overwhelmingly beautiful landscape carved out of ice millions of years ago — and a feeling of some insignificance in relation to G-d’s created world — there are other pieces of the trip that had me connecting back to our own stories and our present existence.
Three components to our...Read more...
Rabbi's Week in Review - 12/11/2023
12/11/2023 04:03:34 PM
I am thrilled to announce that Congregation Kol Ami has established a position of director of engagement, and Julia Patterson will serve in the role. We approached the Menorah Heritage Foundation with the idea for a project titled “Radical Inclusion.” The idea of “radical inclusion” is to be more of who we already are, seeking out those who have been marginalized and have not felt welcome elsewhere — those from the queer community,...Read more...
Rabbi's Week in Review - 12/4/2023
12/04/2023 04:17:14 PM
This past Sunday, I did a presentation on jazz and jazz history, with an emphasis on Kansas City jazz. It has been awhile since I have taught jazz, so it involved more preparation than I expected.
After many years, I still hold that jazz, at its foundation, is an African-American art form. It has been and continues to be a vital means of creative expression and communication when other forms of expression have been denied...Read more...
Rabbi's Week in Review - 11/27/2023
11/27/2023 04:28:39 PM
The present Israeli-Palestinian conflict rarely strays from my thoughts. I tend to be a news junkie — television, radio and print media — during more settled times, and these are not settled times. I’m rarely far from the next piece of news regarding the hostages or progress toward a cessation of the destruction from all sides.
And, yet, the myriad of other problems in the world persist. An exhibit at the Momentary Museum in...Read more...
Rabbi's Week in Review - 11/20/2023
11/20/2023 02:59:50 PM
I have in recent weeks spoken a lot about our conflicting emotions in response to the ongoing conflict and violence in Israel and Gaza. This week we have our annual Thanksgiving celebration. Regardless of the holiday’s historic origins, we do recognize Thanksgiving as a time when we have the opportunity to plug into a sense of gratitude.
People who know me also know that my favorite form of prayer is the prayer of gratitude. There...Read more...
Sat, August 16 2025
22 Av 5785
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