The most interesting thing to come out of last week’s AIPAC conference was not so much what was said in any one session, but what was said before and after the sessions. As in every election cycle, AIPAC issued invitations to all the leading presidential candidates.
March 19, 2016
The Test of Esther
Occasion(s) / Va-yikra
In generations to come, the elections of 2016 will be viewed as a historic flashpoint for the American Jewish community, due to what is and – perhaps more significantly – what is not happening.
March 12, 2016
Look Long, Act Now
Occasion(s) / P’kudei
This morning’s Torah reading, Parashat P’kudei, was the last Torah reading that Rabbi Milton Steinberg lived to read. He died on March 20, 1950, having suffered from a long-term heart condition that ultimately took his life at the age of forty-six.
February 06, 2016
Renewing the Covenant
Occasion(s) / Mishpatim
One of the most gracious and memorable invitations ever extended to me was when Rabbi Dr. Eugene Borowitz, z”l, invited me to teach one of his classes at Hebrew Union College. Dr.
January 23, 2016
What Comes Next?
Occasion(s) / B’shallah
At the risk of Monday-morning quarterbacking the greatest story ever told, there is one question that should have been asked in the fifteen chapters leading up to the liberation of the Israelites from Egypt, but unfortunately never was. It was not for lack of opportunity.
January 09, 2016
The Sons of the Fathers
Occasion(s) / Va-era
Thirty-six years strikes me as well beyond the statute of limitations on spoiler alerts, but if it isn’t, then this would be a good time to get up and leave the room.
December 15, 2015
Sh'lihut
Occasion(s) / Va-yiggash
I have to believe that the stark juxtaposition between the soaring heights of his early years and the depths to which he would fall in the years to come was not lost on Joseph.
December 12, 2015
Light One Candle
Occasion(s) / Mi-ketz, Hanukkah
Today, the sixth day of Hanukkah, I want to raise what is perhaps the most famous question asked about our Jewish festival of lights.
November 28, 2015
Friend and Foe
Occasion(s) / Va-yishlah
For anyone who attended the University of Michigan in the early 1990s, there is one half of one basketball game that to this day remains exceptionally difficult to discuss openly. The year was 1992, and Michigan was playing the defending champs Duke in the NCAA national championship game.
November 21, 2015
Wandering Arameans
Occasion(s) / Va-yetzei
More than any other people, the Jewish people know precisely when and where the Syrian refugee crisis began. Every year, at every Passover Seder table, every Jew recites the words arami oved avi.