Religious Coalition Responds to Tragedies at Sikh Temple, Mosque
Saperstein: "Group-based assaults are more than mere acts of violence. They are nothing less than attacks on those values that are the pillars of our republic and the guarantors of our freedom. They are a betrayal of the promise of America."
Reform Movement Mourns Sikh Tragedy
Saperstein: "America is the most religiously diverse nation in the history of humankind and hate crimes targeted at religious, racial or ethnic groups tear at the fabric of our nation."
Changed for the Better
“Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better? Because I knew you, I’ve been changed for good.”
A Shabbat Prayer for Joplin Mosque and Sikh Temple
The tragic shooting at the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, WI last weekend that resulted in seven deaths and scores of injuries has horrified us all. Acts of violence fueled by ethnic hatred, including what may be an act of arson against a mosque in Joplin, MO this week, have no place in ou
Reform Movement Mourns Sikh Tragedy
Yesterday afternoon a 40-year-old man, Wade Michael Page, opened fire in a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, fatally wounding six members of the community and injuring three others.
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.
Noah and How We Live with One Another in Our Time
Every few years we are treated to the same news item. It proclaims breathlessly that a new expedition to Mount Ararat has located remains of Noah's ark. Of course, it always turns out that the boat was not found after all, and future reports will run the same course.
The Dove Flyer: A Novel
Eli Amir was 13 years old when his family left Baghdad for Israel in 1950. They spent their first seven years in Israel living in tents, and the trauma of that experience led him to devote his career to issues of immigrant absorption.