Earlier this week, I had the sad occasion to attend a funeral. I listened as family members reminisced, shared stories and painted a picture of a loving and beloved matriarch, whose memory and legacy will be cherished forever.
The Rabbi who spoke so eloquently described the kindness, humo…
Earlier this week I was honored to deliver the invocation at the New York State Senate in Albany. In my brief remarks, I referenced the upcoming holiday of Pesach and the unique attributes of freedom for the newly liberated Jewish people. I further described the convergence of freedom and re…
Yesterday, close to 100 members of our community joined me and Stephanie Hausner, COO of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish American Organizations, for a discussion about the current upheaval in Israel over Judicial Reform. Stephanie was incredibly insightful.
But I’m not goin…
For several weeks now, since the new government was formed in the wake of Israel’s recent election which gave Prime Minister Netanyahu a 65-55 majority in the Knesset, many of us have been unsettled by the rising acrimony in Israel. There are several legislative agendas being put forward b…
Recently I wrote about celebrating our Jewish identity as the foremost response to any discrimination we face. I wanted to highlight how much we as a community have to be proud of and how much we as a people can reflect on as sources of inspiration.
Before I do, I want to pre-empt the obvio…
Last week, I had an opportunity to speak with a number of middle school students at one of Rockland’s synagogue hebrew schools. I was invited to speak about the Federation and its role in confronting antisemitism. The key message I gave to the students was that the most important way to co…
Several years ago, I wrote these short posts on observing International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is observed today. As you will see, I have had some conflicted thoughts about how we as a Jewish community should think about it.
In 2015 I wrote:
When is the right day to memorialize…
I read yesterday that many of you are winners of a world renowned prize. No, not the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes. This week, the Genesis Prize Foundation announced the winner of the 2023 Genesis Prize. Last year, the winner was Alfred Bourla, the Jewish Pfizer CEO responsible for d…
Some of the recent disturbing polling data about how Jews are perceived in the US put me in mind of two conversations I had recently, where the person I was talking to had something negative to say about other Jews. One of them was a now completely secular Jew who grew up in a mainstream non…
I have an important message this week. I want to share it not because of a political, religious or social agenda, but rather because the times and circumstances demand it.
There is no excuse - not political, not religious, not social, and not to score more followers and likes - for anyone, …
Imagine you are on your way, with your family, to a long awaited and much needed vacation. You’ve left the pressures of work behind, and you are waiting for your flight to somewhere sunny and warm. And then you hear that your flight is delayed, without much more info than that. You look ar…
On Wednesday evening, I was honored to take part in a commemoration of the antisemitic attack that took place in Monsey three years ago, injuring five and taking the life of Rabbi Joseph Neumann. Today I’m sharing some of the thoughts I spoke about, and combining them with a broader messag…
At the end of November, our Director of Community and Donor Relations, Yossi Hertz, began a month-long stay in Israel. He spent several days working remotely, but the rest of the month he will spend doing miluim, reserve duty with his unit in the IDF’s Pikud HaOref, or Home Front Command. …
When I was about 11 years old, my brother and I encountered a trio of 17-18 year olds one night on our way home from school who grabbed our kippot from our heads and pushed us around. The words they yelled at me I had read, but I had never heard directed at me. And the feeling of helplessnes…
I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families. We are truly blessed to be able to celebrate. One important precept of our Jewish tradition is to be thankful and to express that gratitude, whether it is to the Almighty or to our friends and neighbors. We use the term 'ha…
