Jewish Voices, Jewish Life

It’s what we do every day. Whether it’s the food we favor…a bagel with shmear… or the drive to repair the world…tikkun olam, we Jews are there, especially in Rockland County. We plan to bring Doing Jewish to you every Friday. Sometimes it’ll be fun, sometimes it’ll be serious.

Be Fearless

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of visiting with Imam Syed Ali of the Iqra Darul Ehsan Mesgid in Suffern. We had a long and wide ranging discussion, discovering many commonalities not only within our cultural and religious experiences, but also in how we perceive the need for growth and…

A glass half full?

I sent my daughter off to school on Yom Haatzmaut earlier this week wearing a blue skirt, white tshirt, and Tzahal sweatshirt, with a smile on her face and a song in her heart as she and the entire school sang Hatikvah together on the steps outside. I smiled and laughed, and my own heart bea…

Celebration and Commemoration

This Passover has been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster for many of us - the happiness of celebrating with family tempered by the knowledge that a loving family in Israel has been torn from its foundations in a terror attack.
 

The next few weeks are another journey - from sorrow to hop…

A Passover message

Recently, as I often do on my drive to work, I was listening to a podcast - one of many incredible episodes by my former colleague Rabbi David Bashevkin on his 18 Forty Podcast. In several discussions, he was exploring the dynamics of families who are confronted by generational change and cr…

We’re Stronger Together

Two events related to the scourge of antisemitism culminated this week in action - one proactive and one reactive. As a Federation, we have to address issues as they come up, but we also have an opportunity to plan and execute policy or programming in a strategic way.

Several weeks ago, I b…