• Passover 2017 – Exodus of Egypt

    In the past few Torah portions we have been reading of the Jewish People’s Exodus from Egypt.  The 10th plague, the smiting of the firstborn, seems to be the final catalyst which precipitates Pharos’ freeing of the slaves.  Curiously, just after the firstborn in Egypt are killed the Jewish people are told, “…therefore you shall sanctify…

  • Passover – Progress to Redemption

    This Shabbat we begin the second book of the Torah in which we read about the enslavement in Egypt and the subsequent redemption process. On Passover we drink 4 cups of wine to symbolize the four steps of redemption mentioned here. I will take you out, I will save you, I will take you culturally…

  • The Endangered Next Generation of Israeli-American Jews

    Close to a million Israelis live in countries other than Israel. The majority have settled in the United States and Canada for the long run, teaching at universities, running business, and becoming entrepreneurs. Most identify as secular and send their children to public schools. Although they maintain a vague Israeli identity, most of the children…

  • Make America Civil Again

    Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are tightening their grips on the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations. One of my congregants watched the presidential debates with their 9 year old child. After a few minutes the child stood up and said, “we are not allowed to watch this.” When they inquired why she replied, because it…

  • Sukkot 2016

    The sukkah is a perplexing space, symbolising a great number of things.  When something has many explanations this indicates that its nature is not completely clear to us.  Here is a list of what the Sukkah represents: 1. A Real Sukkah-The Torah writes that the purpose of the sukkah is: “In order that your generations…

  • Adam and Eve: Two Stories, Two Personalities

    In this week’s Torah portion, Berashit, the first humans, Chava and Adam are created.  The story of their creation is told twice in the Torah, the first in chapter 1 and the second in chapter 2, with many differences.  In the first story Adam and Eve are created at the same time in the image…

  • Passover 2016

    Passover is about relationships.  Over and over the Torah expresses the Passover Seder in intergenerationally related terms, for example:  “When your child shall ask you, “what is this service”….,”  “And you shall say to them, “with a strong hand G-d took us out from Egypt”…”   Our seders are held primarily in homes and involve families…

  • The Purpose of Mitzvot

    Do mitzvot have reasons or are they purely a Divine decree?  Should we live lives insulated from other cultures or integrated with them?   Is religious life an ascetic one or should we take advantage of life’s pleasures?  Lots of theological profundities which impact the way we live our lives are the subject of much…

  • Adam One as Paradigm for Communal Spiritual Leadership

    Synagogue rabbis today are teachers, administrators, and pastors.  They give sermons, raise money, teach classes, facilitate Jewish lifecycle events, answer halakhic questions, coordinate meetings, occasionally change lightbulbs, absorb the anger and anxiety of individuals for the sake of the community’s greater health, assist Bar and Bat Mitzvah children with their drashot, comfort the mourner, support…

  • Passover 2015

    Regarding the Seder night Maimonides writes, “In every generation a person is obligated to see themselves as if they, right now, have gone out from the slavery of Egypt.  So does the Torah write, “remember that you were a slave,” meaning it is as if you yourself were a slave and have gone out to…

  • The Torah Value of Decentralized Power

    Recently a prominent Orthodox rabbi was arrested for voyeurism, for putting cameras in a mikvah. Much has been written already about what must be learned from this horrific abuse of power. Perhaps rabbis require more oversight and annual reviews, perhaps there should be more women’s leadership around issues of mikvah, tighter security at mikvaot, etc.…

  • Sukkot 2014

    Every child learns the question in Jewish day school.  If the sukkah reminds us of God’s protection of the Jewish people in the desert why don’t we build it in the month of Nisan when the Jewish people left Egypt.  There are many answers but one that Rav Yitzchok Hutner gives in his book Pachad…

  • My Brethren in Gaza

    I feel terrible for the people of Gaza.  They live under the rule of a violent oppressor.  But their oppressor is not Israel, it is Hamas, a terrorist entity whose very name means anger and whose actions seem to so revolve around war and hatred, that they cannot spend adequate money, time, or effort on the welfare…

  • Passover 2014 – Hidden meanings in the Passover Seder

    In a few days the Jewish people will celebrate the holiday of Passover. The central observance of Passover is the seder meal with matza (unleavened bread), maror (bitter herbs), a festive meal, four cups of wine, readings related to the Biblical exodus from Egypt 3500 years ago, and above all, dialogue including questions, answers and…

  • Shavuot 2014 – Reflections on our Community Shavuot Tikun and Jewish Unity

    This past Tuesday night, the first night of Shavuot, over 100 people from five different shuls and institutions, Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox, came together to spend the night (some even made it all night!)  learning Torah together; to stand again as we did at Sinai, no matter our differences, as “one person with one heart”.…

  • Some St. Louis History: Bais Abraham Congregation Celebrates 120 years

    The Orthodox Jewish community of St. Louis dates back to the early 19th century.  Though it began small, in the 1880’s and 1890’s waves of Orthodox Jews from Russia and Poland emigrated to the United States and to St. Louis.  By the 1940’s there were close to 25 Orthodox synagogues in St. Louis.  These congregations for…

  • Ark as Metaphor

    In synagogues, the world over Jewish people are reading the Biblical book of Exodus, with its quintessential moment of Jewish history. The Children of Israel, several weeks after their exodus from Egypt, reach Mount Sinai and there receive the two tablets of stone on which is written the ten commandments, followed by the rest of…

  • Different Roles

    I came across THIS ARTICLE by Rabbi Avi Shafran, my old 10th grade Rebbe.  There is a lot he writes in the public arena that I do not agree with, but this one I really did.  I articulated a similar notion in my post in this blog about Maharats HERE.  Indeed when our Maharat here at Bais Abraham…

  • Raising Consciousness about the Agunah Crisis

    This past Sunday  our congregation, Bais Abraham in St. Louis, Missouri, hosted a post-nup signing event with the aim of prompting the whole shul and much of the community to sign the RCA post-nup and to raise consciousness for the plight of Agunot, women chained in a marriage by a recalcitrant husband who refuses to…

  • Of Fish Tacos and Otherness

    I grew up in the 1970’s in one of the only Orthodox Jewish families in a small Connecticut town.  I did not know then that kosher keeping Jews could eat in a restaurant.  I never had eaten in one and the thought of doing so did not even cross my mind.   Once a year we…