David Byrne, the lead singer of the Talking Heads, sings ‘the world was moving she was right there with it, and she was.’ The song, ‘And She Was,’ appeared on their 1985 album, Little Creatures. I’m not sure what he intended when he wrote that line, but – for me...
This week we come to the Torah portion of Re’eh, which opens with these harrowing words: ‘See this day I set before you blessing and curse: blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Eternal your God that I enjoin upon you this day; and curse, if you do not...
What does it mean to be a progressive Zionist? What does it mean to live between those on the far left, opposed to every Israeli action, and those on the far right, for whom Israel can do no wrong? What does it mean to love a place and a people...
This week we read the third of three Haftarah portions that precede Tisha B’Av, the day that commemorates the fall of the great Temple in Jerusalem in the year 70. These three portions each admonish the Israelites for straying from God, from Torah and from their fellow Jews. This third...
Thirty-one of us are just returning home after a powerful and transformative experience in Eastern Europe. We stayed in Warsaw and Krakow, once centers of Jewish life. We saw the horrors of Auschwitz – Birkenau with our own eyes. With every step there was so much to process. A smaller...
This week we mark the Fourth of July. Americans will take to the beaches. They will join in parades. They will fill the sky with fireworks. There will be barbecues and American music, cherry pie and domestic beer. We will mark 249 years since the formal founding of the United...
As I write these words, Israel and Iran have agreed to a very delicate and fragile ceasefire. Following two anxious weeks of bombs and missiles, these two nations have put down their weapons. Iranian leadership has long stood adamantly opposed to Israel (and America). We are the eternal scapegoats not...
KI will be closed this Thursday in honor of Juneteenth. This holiday has us acknowledge the end of slavery and the ultimate enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation. On Juneteenth, we recall the date of June 19, 1865, when this momentous occasion took place. It marked a turning point not only for...
There is a story in the Talmud of two rabbis who seem attracted to each other. Everything about their interaction suggests romantic interest. One goes as far as marrying the sister of the other, so that they can always be close to each other. These two sages, and so many...
Jewish communities around the world marked Yom Yerushalayim earlier this week. It is a minor holiday all things considered and, in some places, hardly acknowledged at all. Jerusalem Day celebrates the unification of Jerusalem, which took place at the conclusion of the Six-Day War in June of 1967. This war...
