Guest on Shmuel Rosner’s weekly Torah Talk
I had the joy and privilege of being a guest on the weekly Torah talk of author and journalist Shmuel Rosner as hosted on the Jewish Journal. Enjoy the video, and please let me know...
My Trip to Israel: Seeing a Man Who’s Bought Fruits and Vegetables
“What did you do?” “Where did you go?” “What did you see?” These are the natural and anticipated questions. Over this past winter break, I had the joy and privilege of being in Israel with...
Bart Starr, the police, and genuine kindness
Bart Starr is quoted as teaching, “You can tell the true measure of a man by how he treats someone who can do nothing for him.” Just a couple of days ago, I had parked...
Kindness can Overwhelm Hate
Acts of kindness like this one by Jamario Howard don’t put an end to hate and horror (furthered by the attack at a synagogue in Poway, California), but they’re a start — and something that...
Remembering and Forgetting
(In the wake of the shooting in New Zealand, I share an amended version of my words to my synagogue, Congregation Cnesses Israel, in Green Bay this past Shabbat.) In the Jewish calendar, this past...
No longer my spiritual home
I remember my first trip to Israel, the summer before I turned ten years old. As I was heading via sheirut (a shared cab in Israel) to the airport to return home to Milwaukee, I remember crying,...
Anniversary of the Six Day War
In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Six Day War, I wrote the following article, published in this month’s edition of the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle....
In 1939, the U.S. turned away the MS St. Louis, a ship carrying 900 Jewish refugees. They were returned to Europe, where historians estimate that one quarter of them died. How tragic that, on International...
Growing, Cutting, and Donating my Hair: A Reflection
Pride, Pressure and Principle: A Reflection on My Eighteen Months of Growing, Then Cutting, Then Donating My Hair My unintended personal journey began almost four years ago, when I was then the Associate...