While this week has often been a time to read ‘Best of 2023’ lists, and discuss Time’s person of the year, it has been a different kind of accounting we’ve done, and an unspoken apprehension of what 2024 will bring.
There are few Jews alive who have experienced anything like this. …
When I was a child, I lived in Toronto. At this time of year, as we counted down the days until winter break, our playgrounds were full of snow, and the line where the pavement ended was piled with mountains of hard packed snow and ice - a winter wonderland of forts and slides, hard climbs a…
Early this morning, I received word that the IDF had recovered the body of Ron Sherman z’l who had been murdered by Hamas in captivity after being taken on October 7th. And last weekend, we heard that Eden Zacharia had been found, also killed after October 7th.
Now, I’ve followed as clo…
Two days ago, I watched with horrified fascination as the presidents of three of the most ‘illustrious’ academic institutions in the country told the world that calling for and inciting the genocide of the Jewish people would only possibly breach their codes of conduct ‘depending on th…
We are all indispensable. To our families, our loved ones - our loss leaves a gaping chasm, never to be filled. And so we cherish those whom we hold dear. In the case of our extended family, our people, we face a thousand gaping chasms and more. So what do we do with this collective loss? Al…
This year, I approached Thanksgiving with apprehension and a questioning heart, as I expect many of you have also done. It’s a challenge to sit with questions and sorrow and anger in your heart and then shift your internal narrative to one of celebration and even joyfulness.
I didn’t r…
Today we’re going to take a tour through some of the most relevant sayings in our history and our tradition.
We came together on Tuesday, ‘K’ish Echad B’lev Echad’ - 'as one person, with one heart' representing Rockland's Jewish community at the once-in-a-generation March in Washi…
Yesterday, I had an opportunity to speak with emerging leaders from many non profit organizations around Rockland. As I spoke about how the Jewish community is dealing with the shock and distress of October 7th, I asked how many of them had reached out to a Jewish friend in the aftermath, ju…
As our plane approached the coast of Israel, we turned north, and unlike the many times I have landed in Israel, we approached the airport from due north, descending rapidly, maneuvering to present the smallest and quickest profile to avoid incoming rockets from Gaza. Even before we landed, …
Are your kids or grandkids reporting hate, harassment, and violent rallies on their campuses? Justifications for Hamas’ butchery, murder, rape and torture? Don’t be shocked. Academics have been trafficking in these tropes for decades on American and European campuses. Franz Fanon advocat…
The world, our Jewish world, has changed. We are engulfed in tragedy and in anxiety. We are looking around, and we don't see as many friends as we had thought and hoped to have. Our students run gauntlets of pro terror groups at universities, and the presidents of the most prestigious of the…
This week, we stared into the abyss. And it stared back at us.
I’ve tried to articulate my thoughts several times, in social media posts, speeches, conversations. I can’t say I feel I have entirely succeeded.
I’ll start with my own ‘conceptzia’, that clearly was misguided. Severa…
This week should have been a time to continue to focus on the celebration of holidays and the highlights of our New Year, including Simchat Torah, the Festival we look forward to as we begin the cycle of Torah reading anew. I’d have written about renewal, tradition, different ways of celeb…
Many of us will be sitting in a Sukkah over the next week, eating our meals, enjoying time with family and friends, celebrating a festive time in the Jewish year. There are so many customs associated with the holiday. Some continue to use honey with their challah, while others return to usin…
Ever since I was a boy, the experience of Rosh Hashanah has had both physical and spiritual hallmarks. Everyone eats challah and apples dipped in honey, but every year I also always had my mom’s refined onion soup, and helped her make roast duck for the extended family (If I can dig it up,…
