Rabbi’s Corner

For those who have questions about how we can do this, here is what the Conservative movement has stated:

In this crisis situation in an area in which civil and/or medical authorities decree that it is unsafe for people to gather in person and recommend or order the closure of houses of worship, it is permitted to constitute a minyan whose constitutive participants (ten adult Jewish) are not located in one physical place…. In an emergency situation such as the one we are now experiencing, people participating in a minyan that is only online may recite devarim shebikdushah, prayers that require a minyan, with their community. The participants counted for the minyan must be able to see and hear each other through virtual means and be able to respond “Amen” and other liturgical replies to the prayer leader.

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March and April are interesting, even exciting months.

Hope is renewed! We get to measure ourselves against what was and what we hope will be. For some of us,
baseball returns, and if you’re a fan, you are allowed to dream again of what may be possible. It is a long journey. Just as very fan of every team has hope, all of us have hope for the months ahead.

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Why Can’t We Get Along?

We recently finished reading the first of the five books of Moses, the book of Genesis. What is the central theme of Genesis?

Some would say creation, but that is only the first two chapters of the book.
Some would say the story of Abraham and his descendants, which is certainly important in Genesis.
But my own sense is there is a major theme running through the entire book, from Cain and Abel to Joseph and his brothers. The theme of Genesis is about sibling rivalry.

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Hamilton and The Stories of Our Patriarchs

I ask every Bar or Bat Mitzvah to suggest a topic for my sermon for their ceremony. Recently, Levi Weinstein asked me to talk about his favorite musical, Hamilton, and so my challenge was to weave this groundbreaking show with the stories in Genesis that we were reading during those weeks.

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My Song At My Roast

We recently had an event called Roast the Rabbi. I hope that it will not sound bad if I say that it was a great night in every way. We had nearly 300 people and they were all smiling and laughing. The committee worked very hard for a long time and every detail was perfect. At the end of the evening, I never said a word, but my grandson Avi, in a tuxedo that matched mine, responded for me, rebutting his brother Alexander’s biting indictment of my humor. I sang this song to him, but really to thank everyone who was there:

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G-d Bless America or Is Our Flag Still There?

God bless America, land that I love
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with the light from above

From the mountains to the prairies
To the oceans white with foam
God bless America, my home sweet home

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Lox and The Meaning of Jewish Identity, or Off On The Road To Morroco

Do you know what the oldest word is?

I mean the oldest word in any language known to humankind.

You might guess “Mama,” or “Dada,” or “Baba,” but you’d be wrong.

The answer is a word that would not have been in my first thousand guesses. I ask you again: What is the oldest word in any language known to us that has continued to be used with the same pronunciation and meaning for 8000 years straight? Are you ready?

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Thy Sea Is So Great And My Boat Is So Small

I’m visiting someone who’s in a rehab facility because she’s addicted to a prescription drug. She tells me that she’s doing a little better, and she’s thinking about a prayer that they gave her in one of the groups. She reads me a few lines:

Thy sea, O G-d, so great,
My boat so small.
Thy winds, O G-d, so strong,
So slight my sail.
Thy world, O G-d, so fierce,
And I so frail.

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