Tzedakah

August 10, 2018

The Elul Love Your Neighbor Study Challenge

Dear Friends: This Shabbat is the first day of Rosh Chodesh Elul, the new moon marking one month before Rosh Hashanah. I want to invite all of you into a challenge with me: the Elul Love Your Neighbor Study Challenge. Part of the process of teshuvah (returning, redirecting ourselves) is studying what the Torah says about relationships between people and… Continue reading

Calendar, Current Affairs, Elul, Ethics, High Holidays, Holidays, Justice, Kedoshim, Middot, Rabbi, Rosh Hashanah, Soul, Study, Theology, Tikkun Olam, Tzedakah, Tzedek, USA, Yamim Noraim, Yom Kippur
January 12, 2018

Why Exodus Is the Most Important Book of All Time

My D’var Torah at Beth Abraham on Shabbat morning, Saturday, January 6, 2018. Today we begin reading the most important book in human history — Sefer Shmot, the book of Exodus. This is the book that transformed what was possible in the world and what was imaginable in the world. You can divide human history… Continue reading

Books, Current Affairs, Ethics, Exodus, Freedom, Leadership, Pesach, Prayer, Revelation, Shabbat, Shmot, Spirituality, Theology, Tikkun Olam, Torah, Tzedakah, Tzedek, Va’era
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 27, 2016

Jewish, Liberal, and Conservative

This is a version of a section of the sermon I delivered last year on Yom Kippur. While I wrote it originally before any of the primary voting took place, I still think it helps clarify some of the choices before us in 2016. I welcome comments, and hope you will share this widely within… Continue reading

Community Relations, Current Affairs, Election, Freedom, Health Care, Holocaust, Inclusion, Leadership, Tikkun Olam, Tzedakah, Tzedek, USA
April 3, 2014

At the Capital Today

Today I testified at two hearings of committees of the New Hampshire State Senate. As I approached the State House today, I stopped and said a b'racha: Baruch… She'asani Ben Chorin. Praised are You, Who has made me a free person. The second hearing was about a bill to cap the annual interest for car-title loans… Continue reading

Current Affairs, Ethics, Justice, Tikkun Olam, Tzedakah, Tzedek
August 17, 2012

Parashat Re’eh: Getting Ready for the Election

This week I write with a particular awareness of the time of year. It's Rosh Chodesh Elul, the start of the month leading into Rosh Hashanah. It's our annual time of introspection and self-analysis. It's also a week since the presidential election choice has been clarified, with the selection of Rep. Paul Ryan as Gov.… Continue reading

Current Affairs, Election, Elul, Freedom, Justice, Parashat Hashavua, Re’eh, Tikkun Olam, Tzedakah, Tzedek
May 22, 2012

Source Sheets for Jewish Teen Funders Network

On Thursday, May 24 I am leading a teleconference seminar for the Jewish Teen Funders Network on "To Give and to Receive: A Look at the Delicate Relationships in Philanthropy" through the lens of Jewish texts. If you're not a part of the Jewish teen philanthropy universe but are interested in the topic, you can… Continue reading

Jewish Education, Justice, Tikkun Olam, Tzedakah, Tzedek
December 23, 2011

Shabbat Chanuka: The Kavannah of Giving

Like most rabbis, I dislike the way so much of the focus of Chanuka shifts from the nerot, the lights, to the presents kids receive. But I also know that giving, at any time, is a profound Jewish act. Last week during Shabbat evening services, we davvened in our small chapel. Usually one of the… Continue reading

Chanuka, Holidays, Miketz, Parashat Hashavua, Tzedakah
August 5, 2010

Parashat Re’eh: Learning from Lending

When it comes to questions of poverty and economic justice, the Torah has a way of speaking across the ages to the complexities of rich and poor. In Parashat Re'eh, Moshe introduces an idea that even today seems unique: free loans to poor people. We usually idealize a form of giving that is pure generosity,… Continue reading

Parashat Hashavua, Re’eh, Tzedakah
January 2, 2010

What is Tzedakah?

Here are two excellent articles about tzedakah in the Forward from my colleague Rabbi Jill Jacobs. Jill is a Conservative rabbi and the rabbi-in-residence at the Jewish Funds for Justice, an organization my regular readers have already heard about. Jill argues that we should be careful about we're calling "tzedakah" — not all charitable is… Continue reading

Tzedakah
December 18, 2009

Last Day of Chanuka: Dimensions of 8

This last day's focus on Jewish dedication is centered on the number 8 itself. Eight is a significant Jewish number. A bris takes place on the eighth day of a boy's life. Eight is associated with the ancient Temple in Jerusalem — King Shlomo dedicated the first Temple on Sukkot, the eight-day fall festival. In… Continue reading

Chanuka, Eight, Holidays, Justice, Money, Numbers, Tikkun Olam, Tzedakah, Tzedek
December 17, 2009

Chanuka — Seventh Candle

Dedication, take 7: One of the great Jewish organizations in the U.S. working in support of Jews overseas has been the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. "The Joint" was founded in 1914 by American Jewish philanthropists Henry Morgenthau Sr. and Jacob Schiff to aid the Jews of Ottoman Palestine, who had been cut off by… Continue reading

Chanuka, Holidays, Israel, Tzedakah, Young Jewish Adult