Jewish Education – Page 4 – Rabbi Jon 's Website and Blog

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 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

June 2, 2020

Post 1 (of several to come) After George Floyd’s Killing

Post 1 today after George Floyd's killing. This one isn't the main point. More to come. I was thinking about the president’s posing with a Bible last night after his speech, as I said my brief morning prayers while wearing tefillin. Tefillin are leather boxes with little scrolls from the Torah inside them, attached to… Continue reading

Community Relations, Current Affairs, Interfaith Dialogue, Jewish Education, Justice, Leadership, Prayer, Rabbi, Spirituality, Tefillin, Theology, Torah, Tzedek, USA

May 18, 2020

Celebrating 25 Years Since Ordination

25 years ago today we received our degrees from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and became rabbis and cantors for the Jewish people. Some reminiscences and reflections, I am sure I will have more, maybe a sermon this Saturday… The best part of the week was that Laurie also got her MBA from Columbia.… Continue reading

Conservative Judaism, Jewish Education, Leadership, Rabbi, Study, Teacher-Student Relationship, Torah

May 13, 2020

Thoughts About High Holy Days From the Perspective of May 2020

I posted this piece last week — it's exactly the same in both The Times of Israel and ejewishphilanthropy.com. Continue reading

Calendar, Coronavirus, Current Affairs, High Holidays, Holidays, Jewish Education, Prayer, Rosh Hashanah, Temple Beth Abraham, Yamim Noraim, Yom Kippur

April 8, 2020

Three Virtual Seder Leaders

If you don't have a Seder leader, don't want to join a remote Seder, and still want to have all or part of a Seder while at home, here are three Web links that provide you a pre-recorded leader. 1. Rabbi JonI recorded myself leading you through a Seder. Just click here whenever you are ready. It's… Continue reading

Calendar, Coronavirus, Current Affairs, Holidays, Jewish Education, Pesach, Prayer, Spirituality, Study

April 7, 2020

My Passover Haggadah Commentary for This Year

I just finished these thoughts. They are a combination of commentaries, reflection pieces, discussion prompts related to the Seder text, the Pesach Haggadah. You could read them before or after a Seder, or even during. Wishing everyone a good festival and a Zissen (sweet) Pesach. https://images.shulcloud.com/544/uploads/Pesach/sederthoughts5780.pdf Continue reading

April 5, 2020

Passover 5780 — The Four Children of COVID-19

This is a version of the D'var Torah I gave on Saturday, April 4, 2020, Shabbat Hagadol 5780. According to the Passover Haggadah: “The Torah speaks of four children. One is wise, one is wicked, one is simple, and one does not know to ask. Echad chacham, v’echad rasha, v’echad tam, v’echad she-aino yod’ea lish’ol.” I… Continue reading

Calendar, Coronavirus, Current Affairs, Ethics, Freedom, Health Care, Holidays, Jewish Education, Justice, Leadership, Pesach, Spirituality, Study, Theology, Tikkun Olam, Torah, Tzedek, USA

January 23, 2020

Daf Yomi: Ch. 2 of Berachot Begins

Again, I'm behind in my post though not my studies… The second chapter of the Talmud begins with a discussion of the concept of kavvanah, which means "intention." The specific issue is whether one can fulfill the mitzvah of reciting the Sh'ma by mechanically vocalizing the sounds, or whether kavvanah is required. The Talmud begins by positing: yes. There… Continue reading

Bavli Berachot, Books, Calendar, Daf Yomi, Jewish Education, Midrash, Prayer, Study, Talmud, Theology

January 20, 2020

Daf Yomi — End of First Chapter of the Talmud!

I am almost up-to-date in my studies, but a bit behind in posting reflections. The first chapter of Massechet Berachot ends with a discussion of two kinds of things that are linked despite being experienced or named differently. One is the series of persecutions and exiles of the Jews. The other is the names of… Continue reading

Antisemitism, Bavli Berachot, Books, Calendar, Daf Yomi, Jewish Education, Prayer, Study, Talmud, Theology, Torah

January 16, 2020

Daf Yomi — Berachot p. 12

When I was studying Berachot 12, I had a mini-experience that is exactly what Torah study should be. On 12b, Rabbah bar Chinana Sava taught in the name of Rav that anyone who could have prayed for compassion/mercy (rachamim) for another but didn't is called a sinner. I was thinking about this for some reason while I… Continue reading

Bavli Berachot, Books, Daf Yomi, Jewish Education, Prayer, Spirituality, Talmud

January 9, 2020

Daf Yomi — Berachot p. 6

I have to say that I have a bias in my own Talmud study toward passages that seem to be structured a certain way. That seem quilted, where you can make out some kind of logic to the patterning. This page does not have that. It's a skip from one topic to another. There is… Continue reading

Bavli Berachot, Books, Calendar, Daf Yomi, Jewish Education, Prayer, Spirituality, Study, Talmud, Theology