Rosh HaShanah 5775: Toward Healing on Israel

Most people spend their summers reading books, relaxing on the beach, and maybe catching a few Mets losses live and in person. I spent my summer as a chaplain in a hospital. On Mount Sinai Medical Center’s ninth floor I visited patients to talk, listen, and, hopefully, be a part of the healing process. I helped my patients as they tried to process their experiences of suffering and their co-occurring feelings of anger, fear, confusion, and sadness. You know, easy stuff.

One day in late July I had a referral to visit Mrs. B, a soon-to-be-discharged Catholic patient. I was feeling confident after a meaningful conversation with her, but then, the dreaded moment came. She looked up at the television, which had been on throughout our conversation, gave me a knowing glance and asked, “so, what do you think about all of that?” On the screen were scrolling headlines about the war between Israel and Hamas. There were images of rockets, demolished buildings, frightened people, and the occasional, requisite pundit. I took a deep breath.

Yom Kippur 5774: High Holiday Word Play

What do you call an average-looking grassland? Plain plain. How would you describe an unsightly collection of 144 items: Gross gross. A super cool insect? Fly fly.

English homonyms are great. And I love a good pun just as much as the next nebbishy rabbinical student, but playing with English words…that’s small potatoes. Now, this may just be the reality of four-more years of school plus a lifetime in the rabbinate talking…but Hebrew Homonyms…that’s where it’s at.

Rosh HaShanah 5774: Sefer Zichronot

I delivered this sermon at University of Rochester Hillel:

I don’t know about all of you, but in the last few weeks, I have acquired a lot of books. Books for classes, reference books, library books, notebooks, planners. It is a miracle that there is a square inch of space to move in my room. But, this is how we start things. We collect and we open books. New classes? Textbooks. Bar Mitzvah? Prayer books, books of Jewish Wisdom, a stack of Torahs. Starting a new job? Workplace handbooks and instruction manuals from past employees. Time for the New Year? Rosh Hashanah is a holiday with plenty of books to dive into. 

Experience Rosh Chodesh at the Kotel

This post first appeared on Challah U'Dvash, my wife's and my blog from our Year in Israel. It then made its way to ReformJudaism.org and...now it's here too!

This morning, we went to the Western Wall to pray with Women of the Wall for Rosh Chodesh Sivan, the festival celebrating the new month. Though a large group of progressive Jews were present, there were also thousands of Ultra-Orthodox men and women who had been bused in to protest a recent ruling by the Jerusalem District Court allowing women to pray as they wish at the Kotel. It was a moving, tense, and, at times, frightening scene. After we took some time to process our experiences, we reflected together on the day.

Parshat Bo: A Sign To You

My first sermon as a student at HUC!