Education

April 25, 2023

My Love Letter to Hebrew

I gave this as a sermon on Shabbat, April 22, 2023, preceding Israel's 75th anniversary of independence. What I remember first about Mrs. Nussbaum’s Sunday School class is that everyone learned how to read a whole Hebrew word before I did. I can remember coming and looking at the book and I saw nothing. I… Continue reading

Current Affairs, Education, Hebrew, History, Holidays, Israel, Jewish Education, Maimonides, Yom Haatzmaut, Youth
December 25, 2022

Being One, Being Two, Being Seven, Being Eight

My D'var Torah for Shabbat Chanukkah 5783 (December 24, 2022). A question I often get around Chanukkah is: Is it true that all the candle hae to be at the same level, other than the shamash? Usually the question comes from creativity — someone who wants to repurpose another item as a chanukkiah, or who… Continue reading

Calendar, Chanuka, Chanukkah, Education, Eight, Gratitude, Hakarat Hatov, Holidays, Leadership, Patience, Ritual, Simcha, Study, Synagogue, Talmud, Tikkun Olam, Torah
June 28, 2022

The Latest Religion and Schools Supreme Court Decision (and No More Government Benedictions for Me)

Posted June 27, 2022 on Facebook, so not quite as tight as what I usually write. This is what the top of my head looks like today and through next Monday at least, July 4. No matter what’s happened recently, I am celebrating our independence, freedom, and democracy, and wearing that above me as… Continue reading

#integratingamerica, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Education, Equality, Freedom, History, Inclusion, Interfaith Dialogue, Justice, Leadership, Peace, Speech Ethics, Tzedek, USA, Youth
June 20, 2022

In the Midst, All at Once: A Torah for Pride 5782

This was the D'var Torah I gave for Parashat B’haalotcha on June 18, 2022. When the same passage of Torah comes at you from four different sources the same week, you have to pay attention. I always look forward to Parashat B’haalotcha because it’s the start of the frisky Torah, the Torah of complaining. It’s… Continue reading

B’haalotcha, Conservative Judaism, Current Affairs, Education, Equality, Ethics, GLBT, Inclusion, Jewish Education, Justice, LGBTQ+, Parashat Hashavua, Synagogue, Temple Beth Abraham, Teshuvah, Tikkun Olam, Torah, Tzedek, USA, Young Jewish Adult, Youth
April 26, 2022

Tov! Chapters 19 and 20 — Classic Themes of the Trolley Problem, Lying, and Friendship

Chapter 19: How to Learn From the Trolley Problem On “The Good Place” Michael turns the famous trolley problem into another form of torture for Chidi, while Jason says being mean to someone who is being nice to you is bad but he can’t put his finger on why. On the podcast, Geoff Mitelman (rabbi/science… Continue reading

Education, Ethics, Jewish Education, Speech Ethics, Study, Tov! Podcast
March 31, 2022

Don’t Strike the [R]ock — Reflections on the Oscars

Head over to my blog at the Times of Israel. Continue reading

Chukkat, Coronavirus, Current Affairs, Education, Ethics, Exodus, Jewish Education, Moshe, Movies, Pesach, Shmot, USA
February 24, 2022

My Testimony on “Divisive Concepts”

I testified at two committees of the New Hampshire legislature on bills to change or repeal our new "divisive concepts" law — Senate Judiciary and House Education. I said essentially the same things at both hearings. Here it is, video and my written statement (they are the same). Mr. Chairman and Honored Representatives: Thank… Continue reading

#integratingamerica, 9/11, Antisemitism, Books, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Education, Equality, Ethics, Freedom, History, Holocaust, Hope, Immigration, Inclusion, Interfaith Dialogue, Jewish Education, Justice, Leadership, Study, Taking Sides, Teacher-Student Relationship, Tikkun Olam, Tzedek, USA, Youth
February 1, 2022

Na’aseh V’Nishma Meets Yes-And

This was my D'var Torah on Shabbat morning, Saturday, January 29, on Parashat Mishpatim. When I was trying to decide whether to apply to rabbinical school, as a senior in college, I gave myself an ultimatum: I would not apply until I was putting on tefillin every day. Tefilllin are basically mezuzas but for the… Continue reading

Education, Freedom, Holidays, Jewish Education, Midrash, Mishpatim, Parashat Hashavua, Patience, Prayer, Rabbi, Shabbat, Spirituality, Study, Synagogue, Tefillin, Temple Beth Abraham, Theology
January 27, 2022

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The day was chosen by the UN because it is the day in 1945 when the death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau was finally liberated after the world woke up too late to the extent of Nazi atrocities. In 1942, a week earlier in the calendar, the Nazi leadership had convened… Continue reading

Antisemitism, Calendar, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Education, Equality, Ethics, GLBT, History, Holocaust, Inclusion, Justice, Leadership, Shoah, Tikkun Olam, Tzedek, USA, Yom Hashoah, Youth
September 30, 2021

So What Exactly Is The Torah?

We start the annual cycle of reading and studying Torah once again this week! So, what is the Torah when you zoom out and think about it as a whole, and not just story by story or teaching by teaching? Continue reading

Bereshit, Books, Calendar, Education, Parashat Hashavua, Simchat Torah, Study, Theology, Torah
September 23, 2021

Integrating America: What I Hope To Get From This Year

Assignment: Complete this thought — "I am about to begin a year of study about America…" This is the final bit of preliminaries, before delving into history and literature. I wanted to put down a few of my own goals in taking a sustained, hopefully deep survey of American history since colonial times.… Continue reading

#integratingamerica, Books, Current Affairs, Education, Equality, Freedom, History, Hope, Immigration, Inclusion, Jewish Education, Justice, Study, Tikkun Olam, Tzedek, USA, Youth
September 23, 2021

Tov! Chapter 7 — Lying!

On “The Good Place” Chapter 7 is the classic lying episode, and on the podcast Rebecca Rosenthal and I jump off from the Talmud’s analysis of white lies to talk about truth and relationships, how and when we tell people important truths, and how truth emerges between people not just by telling. (Also the Klingon… Continue reading

Education, Elul, Ethics, Feminism, Foregiveness, Gossip, High Holidays, Jewish Education, Justice, Lashon Hara, Middot, Rosh Hashanah, Study, Talmud, Television, Torah, Tov! Podcast, Yamim Noraim, Yom Kippur, Young Jewish Adult, Youth