YOM KIPPUR In the Middle Ages throughout Europe, over-zealous priests in the Catholic Church were so afraid of Jewish thought that, betwefacen 1232 and 1319, they would gather up every Jewish book they could find and burn it. This way, they figured, Jews couldn’t be Jewish without their books, and they would ultimately disappear.  It…

From the Book of Lamentations in memory of those killed by another round of gun violence in Uvalde: Bitterly she weeps in the night, Her cheek wet with tears. Uvalde bitterly weeps in the night Her cheeks wet with tears. We hear them, between gasps of pain and incomprehension the same words spoken by the…

It’s often said that life can change in the blink of an eye. Anyone who has ever experienced a sudden death, or any kind of life-changing surprise would agree, of course. Life can change in the blink of an eye.  That is why I am glad my eyes didn’t blink when Stella’s phone dinged as…

While Standing (Six Feet Apart) on One Foot Erev Pesach – April 8, 2020 Why is this night different than any other night? When we ask that simple question, the answer this year can be either, ‘Where do I begin?’ or ‘Oy!  Where have you been?!’  No one, and I mean no one, is ever…

March 11, 2021 – One year after…. This is the first anniversary of the declaration that COVID was a pandemic.  I should correct myself: COVID is still a pandemic.  Anniversaries are a good time to reflect.  So let’s reflect and see how much has changed.  But I don’t want to reflect on how much has…

When a maniac gets a gun, a maniac does maniacal things.  The murderer of Asian women in Atlanta ought to strike terror in everyone of our hearts, for sure.  From what we understand, a man buys a 9mm pistol in the morning and kills 8 people by the afternoon.  He may have had a sex…

When I lived down South, one of the first things I heard was how much the South had changed from its previous reputation.  No longer was it a place that was oozing racism and, even though there were problems, look how much progress we have made.  On the surface, that was certainly true and I…

When a maniac gets a gun, a maniac does maniacal things.  The murderer of Asian women in Atlanta ought to strike terror in everyone of our hearts, for sure.  From what we understand, a man buys a 9mm pistol in the morning and kills 8 people by the afternoon.  He may have had a sex…

March 11, 2021 – One year after…. This is the first anniversary of the declaration that COVID was a pandemic.  I should correct myself: COVID is still a pandemic.  Anniversaries are a good time to reflect.  So let’s reflect and see how much has changed.  But I don’t want to reflect on how much has…

The events of yesterday are evoking responses throughout the broad spectrum of political opinion. There is so much noise out there that it hurts. We all know what we saw. And what we saw was a burning hatred pitting one American against another. It seems that hating our fellow American has become a kind of…