Many Jewish educational settings have special celebrations during which children receive their first siddur. I wrote this prayer with the intent that it be offered by community rabbis but it could easily be offered by teachers, parents, or anyone else that wishes to offer a blessing for such an occasion. A Siddur is a […]
Judaism
Beginner’s Mind Torah
Yesterday I had to transfer a Torah scroll from The Davis Academy Lower School campus to The Davis Academy Middle School campus. The scroll was being stored in an Ark that resides in a room adjacent to our Lower School gym. When I went to get the Torah scroll, I found our kindergarten students sitting […]
An American Pogrom- An American Response
Yesterday, on October 26th, 2018, the American Jewish community experienced what I am calling an American Pogrom. Historians and scholars may rightly object to my appropriation of this term, but I’ll make my argument nonetheless. As most of us know, the site of the pogrom was the Tree of Life Synagogue in the Squirrel Hill […]
Holiday-Free Judaism
For the next month and change there won’t be any major Jewish holidays. That leaves some Jews wondering how to engage “Jewishly” since the holidays provide both an occasion and a script for Jewish experiences. The truth is actually quite simple: Judaism without holidays is, in many ways, much more engaging and fulfilling than Judaism […]
Science and Religion
As a day school rabbi I work with kids pretty much every day. Having been at it for the last decade, I’m now able to say, somewhat conclusively, that there are certain perennial topics that kids are curious about. One of them is the relationship between science and religion. Because kids seem to linger in […]
Shemini Atzeret
What is Shemini Atzeret? I can’t imagine how many Jews have asked that question and are still left wondering! Here’s a bit of an explanation/interpretation. Shemini Atzeret is a festival that follows immediately on the heels of Sukkot, one of the 3 major festivals of Jewish tradition. Because Shemini Atzeret starts just as Sukkot […]