Rabbi Jon 's Website and Blog

New web host, new look! Bear with me while I set things up and make sure the content and links I had before are updated in the coming weeks.

Hakarat Hatov

September 7, 2022

Getting From Here to High Holy Days, Starting With a Party!

This is based on what I said on Shabbat morning, August 27, 2022 at the start of the month of Elul. It was the day of a Bar Mitzvah and an aufruf (blessing to a couple about to get married)! Usually I think of Elul as a time of introspection before we get together in… Continue reading

Calendar, Elul, Ethics, Gratitude, Hakarat Hatov, High Holidays, Holidays, Hope, Joy, Prayer, Ritual, Rosh Hashanah, Shabbat, Simcha, Soul, Spirituality, Study, Synagogue, Yamim Noraim, Yom Kippur
November 30, 2020

Yehudi: Jews Means Thankful When Gratitude Isn’t Easy

This was the D’var Torah I gave on Saturday, November 28, the Shabbat of Thanksgiving weekend 2020. We Jews have three major names in the Tanakh, in the Bible. When other people are around, we’re sometimes called Ivri or Hebrew — the people from over-there, from the other side of the tracks, the parvenu. When… Continue reading

Calendar, Current Affairs, Gratitude, Hakarat Hatov, Holidays, Immigration, Justice, Spirituality, Thanksgiving, Tikkun Olam, Vayetze
November 23, 2011

Giving Thanks

The Hebrew word for Jew is Yehudi, after our ancestor Yehudah (Judah). The h-d part in Judah’s name is the root of the word Todah, which means “gratitude” or “thank you.” When Judah was born, his mother Leah explained his name: “This time I give thanks to Adonai.” In other words, a Jew is by… Continue reading

Gratitude, Hakarat Hatov, Middot, Thanksgiving

Hakarat Hatov

Getting From Here to High Holy Days, Starting With a Party!

Yehudi: Jews Means Thankful When Gratitude Isn’t Easy

Giving Thanks