GLBT

June 27, 2024

The Grape Cluster and the Two Who Carry It: A D’var Torah for Pride

This is the D'var Torah I gave for Pride Shabbat 5781/2021, for Parashat Sh'lach L'cha (Numbers 13:1-15:41). I love this parasha about the scouts, the m’raglim, and the fact that the Torah is so brutally honest about how hard it is to go forward even to a land of milk and honey, even when the… Continue reading

Calendar, Conservative Judaism, Current Affairs, Education, Equality, Friendship, GLBT, Gratitude, Hakarat Hatov, Inclusion, Jewish Education, Justice, LGBTQ+, Parashat Hashavua, Sh’lach L’cha, Teens, Teshuvah, Tikkun Olam, Torah, Tzedek, Young Jewish Adult, 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
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
November 21, 2016

Three Things I Did As Soon As I Got To The Office

I made three phone calls this morning, in an attempt to do something to head off the hate crimes and discriminatory actions suggested by people connected to the incoming Trump administration, to call for the un-appointment of Stephen Bannon, and to show some solidarity with the local Muslim community. I called and left messages for:… Continue reading

Community Relations, Current Affairs, Election, Ethics, Freedom, GLBT, Inclusion, Interfaith Dialogue, Islam, Justice, Leadership, Peace, Rabbi, Tikkun Olam, Tzedek, USA
November 18, 2016

An Open Letter to Speaker Paul Ryan

This is a letter that I am mailing and publishing, prompted by the appointment of Stephen Bannon as chief strategist for President-Elect Trump. It reflects my personal political perspective and my own read on what Mr. Bannon represents, which overlap but are not the same as many of my friends and readers. I will also be sending… Continue reading

Abuse, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Election, Ethics, Freedom, GLBT, Health Care, Inclusion, Interfaith Dialogue, Justice, Lashon Hara, Leadership, Peace, Rabbi, Tikkun Olam, Torah, Tzedakah, Tzedek, USA
July 29, 2016

The Farmer and the Cowman Should Be Friends

This is my column for August 2016 in the Jewish Reporter, the monthly newspaper of the Jewish Federation of New Hampshire. The Torah opens with distinctions. Heaven and earth, land and water, sun and moon, animals and people. Weekdays and Shabbat. Distinctions that are pretty dramatic, clear-cut, and consequential. Then, in the first story involving… Continue reading

Community Relations, Current Affairs, Election, GLBT, Inclusion, Interfaith Dialogue, Islam, Justice, Peace, Tikkun Olam, Tzedek, USA
June 26, 2013

Marriage for All

Today's Supreme Court decisions about marriage mark a great transformation in our country. I am careful to remember that the Court's mandate is not precisely justice, in a broad moral sense. The justices are responsible for interpreting the specific words of the U.S. Constitution, and the voluminous case law that is often about procedures ("standing")… Continue reading

Current Affairs, GLBT, Justice, Tikkun Olam
April 24, 2009

Judaism and GLBT Inclusion, Part 1

I had some time ago circled May 2 on my calendar. The Shabbat when we read Acharei Mot-Kedoshim, which contain the two verses that through the ages have been interpreted by Jews and Christians against homosexuality. I had been planning to teach from the pulpit about Judaism and the inclusion of people who are gay,… Continue reading

Current Affairs, GLBT, Inclusion, Justice, Torah, Tzedek
November 6, 2008

Obama, Inclusion, GLBT, Jews

A couple more thoughts on the election. In the euphoria about what it means that America is inclusive enough to elect an African-American president, there was one blot on the record. In three states, ballot initiatives were approved by voters that ban same-sex marriage. I'm having trouble finding the texts of the initiatives in California,… Continue reading

Election, GLBT, Inclusion