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…
Lillian’s Café, organized and run through Rockland Jewish Family Service, is a unique program designed to employ individuals on the Autism Spectrum. It provides job training and real work experience to enhance the strengths and potential of each employee - who hold themselves to the highe…
This is the advice of the great sage Hillel the Elder, who lived more than 2000 years ago. Hillel was asked by a scoffer to teach him the entire Torah while he stood on one foot. Instead of rebuking his mockery, Hillel told him “That which is hateful to you, don’t do to others. That is t…
This week marks my first anniversary as CEO of the Jewish Federation and Foundation of Rockland County. It has been a busy year, getting to know this community, building bridges within and beyond it, advocating for it, and finding its hidden strengths.
I am grateful to all of those who have…
It has been a tough time these past few weeks for Jews in America. We are seeing antisemitism in every element of society, from academia to billionaires on social media, from sucker punches on the streets of Brooklyn to neo nazi banners on California overpasses. We've seen swastikas and vand…
It’s that time of year when we see signs and banners, social media posts and TV ads. No, I’m not talking about Black Friday sales. Those will come soon enough. I’m talking about elections. This year, Israel’s election day will be followed about a week later by our local, state and fe…
When my older children come to visit from Canada, one of our usual running jokes is how I am now pronouncing things differently, or spelling things ‘incorrectly’, or using Fahrenheit instead of Celsius. There are many overt and some subtle - and humorous - differences between Canadian an…
As we prepare to celebrate the wonderful holiday of Sukkot, I am hopeful that those in our community looking for ways to respond to those who arrogate the right to define Zionism - Jewish self-determination in our ancestral homeland - as something evil or illegitimate, will read this…
Today I’m sharing a short history lesson. Wednesday marked what is a little known footnote in the Jewish calendar, the Fast of Gedaliah. Who was Gedaliah, you may ask? Well, he was installed by the Babylonian conquerors of Jerusalem after they sacked the First Temple in 586 BCE. His role…
A few days ago I read an op/ed by Abe Foxman, Director Emeritus of the Anti Defamation League. In it, he wrote that what keeps him up at night, after decades of fighting antisemitism and hate, is the vulnerability of synagogues and communal spaces in our communities.
Last weekend, scattered reports of a Ukrainian breakthrough in their 6 month long war pushing back the Russian invasion took shape as a broad and successful counteroffensive driving the invaders out of Kharkiv Oblast. As a student of military history and a news junkie for the last 30+…
Reflecting on the passing of Queen Elizabeth II yesterday, I am reminded of several instances where the Queen left an impression and perhaps a lesson for us. I know that the relationship Americans have with the British monarchy is complex, but I was born and lived most of my life in Canada.
Two years ago the only way some of us could celebrate and observe our most ancient traditions was outside, spread out, under a tent to hopefully keep out the rain. Many of us could not even do that. We remained at home, alone or at best on zoom. No handshakes, no hugs. No after-shul…
