Inclusion

September 24, 2020

My Rosh Hashanah Sermons 5781 (2020)

Rosh Hashanah 5781 (2020) Day 1 6 Feet Closer Rosh Hashanah 5781 (2020) Day 2 Hope Continue reading

Calendar, Coronavirus, Current Affairs, Election, Elul, Ethics, High Holidays, History, Holidays, Inclusion, Middot, Rosh Hashanah, Spirituality, Temple Beth Abraham, Teshuvah, Tikkun Olam, Torah, USA, Yamim Noraim
July 20, 2020

Rubik’s Cubes and Cities of Refuge

This is my D'var Torah for Parashiyot Mattot-Mas'ei, on July 18, 2020. This is a Rubik’s Cube: The Rubik’s Cube starts all jumbled up, with random colors mixed together all over each side. The goal is to get every one of the six sides to be entirely one single color. This is tricky because whenever… Continue reading

Calendar, Community Relations, Coronavirus, Current Affairs, Ethics, Inclusion, Justice, Leadership, Mas’ei, Mattot, Numbers, Parashat Hashavua, Patience, Torah, USA
June 18, 2020

First Thoughts After George Floyd: Justice Torah From Rabbi Akiva and Ben Azzai

This was my Dvar Torah for (Zoom) services on June 6, 2020. I'm making reference here to the Bar Mitzvah of Seth Brown. I want to thank the Browns again for this simcha and as I told them, usually my words of Torah are light on days like this, but sometimes the world thrusts events at… Continue reading

B’midbar, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Ethics, Freedom, Inclusion, Jewish Education, Justice, Naso, Numbers, Study, Talmud, Tikkun Olam, Tzedek, USA
June 2, 2020

Post 3 After George Floyd’s Killing

Post #3 – okay, more snide and angry, and still not the heart of the matter. If we set the presidential bar at cynical, even I could do a better job than President Trump did last night: 1. Call George Floyd’s killing murder. Sure, that might make it impossible for there to be a fair… Continue reading

Community Relations, Coronavirus, Current Affairs, Election, Freedom, Inclusion, Justice, Leadership, Rabbi, Tikkun Olam, Tzedek, USA
June 2, 2020

Post 2 After George Floyd’s Killing

I tried to begin writing today not from anger but from reflection and even hope. Very hard to do right now. Anger comes more naturally. I write snide very well – you should see the first drafts, and there's a snider post to come. This is a preface to links below about a president with… Continue reading

Community Relations, Coronavirus, Current Affairs, Election, Feminism, Freedom, High Holidays, History, Inclusion, Jewish Education, Justice, Leadership, Rosh Hashanah, Teshuvah, Tikkun Olam, Tzedek, USA
February 9, 2020

How I Decide Who to Vote For

This is an attempt to write down something I’ve never written out before: how I decide whom to vote for in elections for national office. This is how I understand what I am doing. There’s plenty here to discuss or argue about. Voting is in one way the most morally consequential thing we do. The… Continue reading

Antisemitism, Calendar, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Election, Ethics, Freedom, Health Care, History, Immigration, Inclusion, Islam, Israel, Justice, Leadership, Money, Peace, Tikkun Olam, Torah, Tzedakah, Tzedek, USA
January 20, 2020

For MLK Day 2020 — Letter From Birmingham Jail

Go to my post from a couple years ago, with links to the text and to a later reading of the letter from King himself. Simply the most important teaching about what it means to be religious that I think I have ever read: https://rabbijon.net/2018/01/15/mlks-letter-from-birmingham-jail/ Continue reading

Calendar, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Ethics, Freedom, History, Inclusion, Interfaith Dialogue, Justice, Leadership, MLK Day, Peace, Prayer, Spirituality, Theology, Tikkun Olam, Torah, Tzedek, USA
December 16, 2019

What to Call Us

A follow-up to my last post, which had mostly raw source links on the question of whether and how the categories of "religion" and/or "nation" apply to Jews. This is my sermon from last Shabbat: What to Call Us Continue reading

Antisemitism, Community Relations, Current Affairs, History, Inclusion, Interfaith Dialogue, Israel, Justice, Leadership, Tikkun Olam, Tzedek, USA, Vayishlach
December 13, 2019

What Are Jews?

A bad week for anti-Semitism in the U.S., wrapped around a controversy about anti-Semitism itself. There was the murder of Jews at a kosher market in Jersey City, which seems to be an anti-Semitic hate crime. The president of the United States, addressing the Israeli-American Council, threw in some gratuitous remarks about the Jews in… Continue reading

Antisemitism, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Election, History, Holocaust, Inclusion, Interfaith Dialogue, Israel, Justice, Leadership, Terrorism, Tikkun Olam, Tzedek, USA, Vayishlach
September 22, 2019

5 Reasons To Take Your Kid Out of School for the High Holy Days

It is not easy to take a day off of school or work for the High Holy Days. As school pressures have become more demanding, even at younger ages, the decision about bringing children to services for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur on a school day might be more difficult for a parent than ever… Continue reading

9/11, Antisemitism, Calendar, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Elul, Ethics, Foregiveness, High Holidays, Holidays, Inclusion, Jewish Education, Rosh Hashanah, Spirituality, Teens, Temple Beth Abraham, USA, Yamim Noraim, Yom Kippur, Youth
April 29, 2019

My Letter After Poway

This is the letter I wrote our congregation today. Dear Friends: Once again we are mourning and raging after an anti-Semitic attack on a synagogue over the weekend. Lori Gilbert Kaye was a dedicated member of Chabad of Poway, and she was killed as she tried to protect Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, who was injured. Almog… Continue reading

Antisemitism, Calendar, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Freedom, History, Holocaust, Inclusion, Interfaith Dialogue, Islam, Justice, Leadership, Prayer, Shoah, Terrorism, Tikkun Olam, Tzedek, USA, Yom Hashoah
March 10, 2019

The Megillah, Rep. Omar, and Where We Go From Here

This post is based on the D'var Torah I gave at services on Saturday, March 9, 2019. I also plan another post with some thoughtful articles on the topic from other sources. I always set out extra books for services in addition to the Siddurim (prayerbooks), on the cart outside the Sanctuary and in the… Continue reading

Antisemitism, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Esther, History, Holidays, Inclusion, Interfaith Dialogue, Islam, Israel, Justice, Leadership, MLK Day, Peace, Pekudei, Purim, Rabbi, Temple Beth Abraham, Terrorism, Tikkun Olam, Tzedek, USA