Catastrophe in America: Racism, Violence, & Tishah B'Av
I had a friend in college named Ray. He was a good guy. He had a lot of the qualities I thought I lacked when I was in college. Ray was good looking, athletic and charismatic. He was a running back on the school's football team.
Denouncing Arson Threat
Yoffie and Saperstein: We are disgusted and outraged by those who have threatened to use violence and arson against Presbyterian churches to protest the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s recent steps toward divestment from Israel.
Galilee Diary: The Neighbors
Whoever saves one life in Israel [i.e., of a Jew] is as if he had saved an entire world.
– Mishnah, Sanhedrin 4:5
Whoever saves one life is as if he had saved an entire world.
The Peace-ful Warrior
My most poignant image of the Six Day War is the photograph of a young Israeli soldier praying at the Kotel, the Western Wall, enveloped in a talit, with an Uzi submachine gun hanging from his shoulder.
Staying Safe This Summer
This summer, through the Religious Action Center's Machon Kaplan program, I am interning for the Children’s Environmental Heath Network (CEHN).
Ki Teitzei: When You Go Out as a Warrior
Parashat Ki Teitzei includes a rich and varied collection of directives that serve as a partial blueprint for behaviors and norms to create the emerging covenantal culture. As Professor Adele Berlin notes, “Issues pertaining to women are prominent in this parashah. . . .
How Tikkun Olam and Pikuah Nefesh Will Help Me Prepare: A #BlogElul Post
Last week I had lunch with a rabbi friend who told me he’s in the midst of preparing four different sermons for the upcoming High Holidays.
Syrian Refugees
With more than 500,000 people displaced to neighboring countries by the violent civil war in Syria, the Jewish Coalition for Disaster Relief (JCDR) has opened a fund to provide humanitarian aid to the refugees.
Union for Reform Judaism Distributes $80,000 in Sudan Relief Funds
NEW YORK - The Union for Reform Judaism is giving $80,000 to organizations dedicated to helping the men, women, and children affected by the ongoing violence in Sudan as its first allocation of dollars donated to its Disaster Relief Fund.