Shalu Shalom Yerushalayim - Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem

Shalu shalom Yerushalayim. Ask about peace for Jerusalem. Ask leaders in America, ask leaders in Israel, ask leaders across the world. How can we make a Jerusalem of peace? Shalu shalom Yerushalayim. Demand peace for Jerusalem. Demand it from governments, from individuals, from communities. Shalu shalom Yerushalayim. Pray. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. That those who love her will live in tranquility. That she will know no violence or war. That she will be a city of light and a beacon of peace.

Installation Remarks: Let's Get to Work

As your rabbi, I promise to work with you. I promise to be your partner in changing the world. Whether the world is the internal world of the soul and of personal healing. Or if it is the world of our daily interactions. Or if it is the world of the systems and structures that undergird our society. I promise that I will be here to work. And I pray that you will come to work with me.

Isn’t that what the synagogue is for? Isn’t that why we are here? The rabbinate I hope to build is rooted in the relationships that we will form. And through our relationships with each other and with the immortal words of our tradition and with the incredible power that comes from study, prayer, and community, that we will set about making a world worthy of our highest ideals.

Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan: Getting Back to Normal

Cheshvan is…Tuesday. It’s just any day. Nothing remarkable, nothing special. Except that it’s a day when we wake up to the sun and can marvel at God’s creation. A day when we have to make choices about who we are and who we hope to be in the world. And a critical time when we wonder, did the High Holy Days have an impact on us? After having been written into and sealed in the book of life, emerging from the day of Judgment to life, emerging with a clean slate…are we new people? There is nothing special there to goad us to righteousness. No soul-shaking reminders to stay on the path we swore to walk on during Yom Kippur. Cheshvan is the normal, everyday, real world, and Cheshvan asks us: truly, what are your commitments? No gimmicks, honestly, who do you want to be? With the pomp and circumstance of the Days of Awe in the rearview mirror, who are you?

America's Mezuzah

Rosh HaShanah 5778 

The mezuzah is affixed to our doorposts, at the threshold of our house, so that we might see it and be reminded of our ongoing responsibility to care for the stranger and the oppressed. To care for all those who might pass through that very threshold. It’s there to remind us to be active agents of freedom and redemption.

And it strikes me that America also has a doorpost. We also have a symbol that sits at the threshold of our nation. A sign we often think delivers a message to the outside world, but, maybe, it is more important as a sign lachem, to you, to us. Of our heritage, of who we claim to be, and of who we might yet become.

I believe that the Statue of Liberty is America’s mezuzah.

Tell Me Your Names

Erev Rosh Hashanah 5778

Our names aren’t just our names. Our names tell a story about our past, our present, and our future. Our names are full of hope, passion, and promise. When I tell you that I want to know your names, I tell you that I want to know you. Truly. Who are you? Where do you come from? What do you care about? Who do you want to be in the world? When we know each other’s names, that is to say, when we really know each other…that is when we enter into sacred relationship. That is when we build a spiritual community of meaning and purpose. That is what seals us for blessing in the Book of Life.

The Shofar: Our Call to Battle

When we hear the shofar, we prepare ourselves for a desperate and critical battle. And our tools for that moment, are love, truth, presence, and compassion. We gird ourselves in teshuva, tefillah, and tzedakah: sacred returning, prayer, acts of righteousness to create the world we will so desperately pray for during our season of introspection and renewal.

The month of Elul is our month to get ready. To clothe ourselves in love, truth, presence. and compassion as we prepare to quench the fires of fear, to extinguish the flames of hate, and to stamp out indifference.

Making Sense in a World of Nonsense

Unfortunately, even though we yearn for the logic of “If A, then B” reality doesn’t always turn out so neat and tidy. We know that. We’ve seen that in the news. We’ve seen that in our lives. We’ve seen that good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people.

...And still, we pray. And still, we yearn. And still, we hope for a world that will make sense. A world where our good deeds will be appropriately rewarded. Where the leaders of all nations work for the best interest of their citizens. Where we see the senselessness of devastation and destruction and work for the safety and security of all peoples.

Whenever a Jew prays, a Jew always prays for Peace

Parashat Matot-Masei

I think this is a universal experience, so you’ll have to let me know if this has happened to you too.

There’s something you know. Maybe it’s a quote, a famous saying, a philosophical idea, or even a line from a movie…but, for the life of you, you have no idea where it comes from.

You’ve searched for it. You’ve googled it. You’ve opened up random books hoping you flip to the right page. You’ve googled it again. You changed a few words…and you google it again. Perhaps, you have even driven friends and loved ones crazy with your incessant googling.

Well, I have a phrase like that. I’ve shared it and taught it multiple times in many settings. And every time, I try to say it with conviction, mostly so no one will question me on it. I’m always secretly terrified that some well-meaning or moved person will ask where it comes from…and I’ll have no idea!

But! No more! Last night, while G-chatting with a classmate about this week’s Torah portion (because that’s what rabbis do), I decided to give it another shot…and, wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, I found it!

The Misogyny of Omission

Parashat Pinchas

Let me begin this Shabbat by sharing some of the insider trade secrets of the Reform Rabbinate. There are a lot of exciting things that happen when you are ordained a rabbi. There is the ceremony itself. The big, fancy piece of paper you get. The days and weeks of celebrations and congratulations. The feeling of accomplishment and awe. The opportunity to head out to serve the Jewish people.

But, the most prized in this remarkable period of transition, the most anticipated status change, the most coveted opportunity…is joining the Central Conference of American Rabbis’ members-only Facebook group.