Pesach is my favorite holiday of the year. I love the food, storytelling, and singing. However, most of all, I love that the Seder house, no matter the size of the home or the company, always feels packed with loved ones and family. No matter how we celebrate, this Pesach will feel very different. The Four Questions take on an entirely new and added meaning this year. Why is this Seder different from all other Seders? Let us count the ways. Instead of celebrating Pesach with only our immediate family and friends, we will be able to celebrate with people far and wide, as a Temple Emanu-El community, and in ways we have never done before. Yes, we will miss the hugs and kisses from family and friends, but we will make up for that with the smiles, laughter, and good discussions that will fill the airwaves this year. The story of Pesach has an eternal meaning to it. The story of a people once enslaved, now free from tyranny is one that has resonated with the Western world for hundreds of … [Read more...]

You, and everyone who you love, has changed their social patterns for fear of catching and spreading the Corona virus. You are watching the world around us adjust in traumatic ways ranging from the stock market to politics. Even though you know that it is temporary, you can’t hug your parents or grandkids. These times are tough. As a Jew, when things get tough, I turn to Torah.  And this week, from across the chasm of generations comes both advice and a message. It is profound. First, a little background.  After leaving Egypt, God gives our Israelite ancestors the task of building a Mishkan (traveling tabernacle) in order to help us overcome our individual slave tendencies so that we can re-create ourselves as a (holy) community.   God promises us that if we can all participate, and do the hard work, then our reward will be that God’s “presence will come down to dwell among” us. (Exodus 25:8) At the end of Exodus (last week’s Torah portion), the Mishkan is completed!  This is a big … [Read more...]

The phrase of 2020 may very well become "social distancing." This term is the call for us to remain apart from one another so that we can end the spread of COVID-19. But I'd like us to use a different term: "Physical distancing." We may be physically distant from one another this week and for an unknown amount of time moving forward, but we have the opportunity to remain socially and spiritually close. Ironically, our Torah portion this week, Vayakhel-Pekudei, begins with the word vayakehl, meaning, assemble. That's right. In the midst of physical distancing, our Torah portion speaks of the gathering and coming together of the Israelites. And why are they coming together? They're coming together to build something beautiful, the Mishkan, God's dwelling place as they travel through the wilderness. Friends, we too are building a new Mishkan together this week, a digital gathering place to bring God's presence into our lives, into our homes, and to be with our families. Now, the … [Read more...]

For most of us, our time and attention this week is focused on the evolving realities of the Coronavirus, and how it is effecting our daily lives, our near-future plans, and the health and safety of our loved ones. Clearly inconveniences and disappointments, some of them very real, are right next to feelings of acute concern, and even fear.  For many of us, appropriate social distancing and organizational caution are necessary steps to take to be as protected as we are able to be. As a rabbi, and as a Jew, my authentic response (in addition to trying to be ‘smart’ about exposure) is to turn to prayer. The mistake that many make is to automatically hear the word ‘prayer’ and dismiss it as an idiom for ‘doing nothing’.  To the contrary, I mean ‘prayer’ as an active, intentional attempt to express myself as being in relationship with The Divine. The famous adage from World War II is that there are “no atheists in the foxholes,” meaning, that when things are tough, people are more able … [Read more...]

Earlier this week I had the privilege of accompanying 45 Temple Emanu-El congregants to Washington, DC for the AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) Policy Conference. To see AIPAC Policy Conference highlights, click here https://event.aipac.org/PolicyConference There were close to 20,000 of us, pro-Israel advocates, who spent three days hearing fierce bi-partisan support for the US-Israel relationship, and learning from true experts.  For the first time that I can remember, I noticed a curious optimism about Israel’s place in the shifting world geo-politic.  Things are starting to look different now. My eldest son, who is 13 years old, came with me for his first policy conference.  He remarked to me that he had no idea how empowering it would be to experience this type of setting; it was almost a counter-weight to the underlying knowledge that we have real tragedy in our history, and that Anti-Semitism is on the rise.  What a gift for him (and us) to experience this. While … [Read more...]