From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life

I have been thinking a lot about something that many of us—not all, but many—have in common: brothers and sisters.  I have been in a deep brother and sister place this week for two reasons. I am the youngest of six children.  My five older siblings live in different places. Two live in Los Angeles, one in New Jersey, one in Denver, and my sister Jill and I live in Newton.  This past Monday night,...

There is a Jewish holiday that few know, Tu B’Shevat, the new year of trees, celebrated next Wednesday night and Thursday, January 24-25. If Passover is the most broadly observed holiday, Tu B’Shevat is among the least observed—a holiday about trees in the dead of winter. To prepare ourselves for the holiday next week, we are going to study three stories about trees: A story about a tired and thir...

January 13, 2024

Our reading this week, parshat va’era, features otot u’moftim, signs and wonders, that are intended to persuade Pharaoh of God’s power and therefore that he should let the Israelites go. The problem is, while the signs and wonders are indeed powerful-- a rod turning into a snake, the Nile turning into blood, millions of frogs jumping up and down--the signs and wonders do not succeed in their appoi...

If a picture paints a thousand words, then a screen shot I saw this week conveys a truth that we need to reckon with.  The screen shot shows the different realities of New York City and Israel on New Year’s Eve.  New York:  fireworks. Israel: taking fire, the glare of missiles and rockets that Hamas still manages to fire into Israel.  New York: people on the streets, reveling, counting down in ant...

Wisdom. We could all use it now. Many of us had hoped and prayed for a better 2024, a happier 2024, a more peaceful 2024. But now that we are in 2024, we are faced with the same stubborn challenges of 2023, deepened. The election cycle in America. The ongoing war in Israel and Gaza and the simmering threat of war with Hezbollah.  Ongoing tensions on our college campuses, including one five miles f...

A member of TE, Dr. Heller is a respected member of the Hebrew College MEAH Bible faculty and has taught many courses at TE. Dr. Heller combines her passion for biblical text with her academic background in Jewish Studies and Comparative Literature and holds a Ph. D. from NYU.

My grandfather was a curmudgeon, especially this time of year. He would start to get grumpy mid-November, when Christmas lights started going up around town and his mood would really sour after Thanksgiving when retailers began blasting Christmas carols. Then a simple trip to the grocery store would send him muttering angrily under his breath up and down the aisles and then all the way home. His m...

With Rabbi Michelle Robinson

The prayer life of the Jewish people gives voice to contradiction and dissonance. On the one hand, all week long we have been singing Hallel, in which we acclaim how God saves us: I called on Adonai; I prayed that God would save me.... God has delivered me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. I shall walk before Adonai in the land of the living. On the other hand, a poem by Isra...

Ever since October 7, I have been living in an anxiety-filled, doom-driven stupor.  All day, from the moment I wake up until I go to bed at night, I check my news apps compulsively and obsessively, worried that there will be some new development that will rock my world the way that horrible attack did. At night, I delve deeper.  I doom scroll.  I read every new article I can find. I search for sto...

Before October 7, our children were blessed to live in a world where their Jewish commitments were not an obstacle to making friends or fulfilling their dreams. Yes, there has always been some anti-Semitism. But for the most part, our kids could be who they were, without hiding anything. Our job was to inspire them to give voice to all parts of themselves: their love of sports; music; drama; dance...

This morning has been so beautiful, so joyful, just what we needed. Daniel’s Bar Mitzvah. Eli’s Bar Mitzvah. Ronna’s birthday. Elizabeth’s naming, three generations of love. And the reason it is especially joyful is that things have been so dark. Eight weeks of war later, with no clear end in sight, we don’t know when it’s going to end, we don’t know how it’s going to end, it’s dark. What the host...

An envelope structure is a great way to tell a story. The story begins with a place, an event, a memorable moment. Stuff happens. The plot unfolds. And the story ends back at the same place or a newer, deeper version of the same event or memorable moment. A classic example of an envelope structure is God, Jacob, and Bethel. Last week’s reading: At the beginning of Jacob’s dangerous journey, when h...

We hear a lot these days about “the college campus,” and I just want to note, it is important to remember that every student is different and every student is experiencing his or her campus differently. I don’t speak for all college students, perhaps not even most, and what I’ll share today is my perspective based on my experience. I strongly encourage you to continue to talk to other college stud...

How do we understand the double absence of God since October 7? The first absence is obvious: where was God when Hamas butchered, maimed, kidnapped, and performed unspeakable atrocities upon the innocent? Not there. The second absence is less obvious but still noteworthy: in the countless articles, podcasts, and conversations, we hear very little about God. Yes, we recite psalms every day. Psalms...

The State of Israel has a religious establishment that is totally out of touch with most Israelis and a school system which does not teach Judaism. What can be done about this dual problem?

This is a Talmud class like no other for a moment like no other. One short story encapsulates the moment. There are tragically so many moments like it. On Sunday, Shira was speaking with her brother Ari and sister-in-law Tziporit who live in Jerusalem. They had just returned from the funeral of a close friend who was a member of their shul in Jerusalem. This man was 44. He had aged out of being re...

This morning I want to tackle a question that is granular, sensitive, painful, common—and coming soon to a Thanksgiving table near you.  What do we do when different generations in our family disagree, passionately, about Israel ?  This is not a new question.  It is an old question.  What is new is the urgency of the question in light of the massacre of October 7, and Israel’s ongoing response in...

About the daily stories of rising anti-Semitism, two questions. First question: How does this current chapter compare to previous chapters? The Haggadah contains the famous passage vehei she’amdah: This promise has stood us and our parents in good stead. For not only has one enemy stood over us to annihilate us. But in every generation enemies have stood over us to annihilate us. Yet the Holy One...

November 4, 2023

All of us worry about the courageous soldiers of the IDF going into the alleys and tunnels of Gaza. It fills us all with deep dread. The ground invasion, and what it will mean to Israeli soldiers, has resurfaced a very important text in Israeli history, Moshe Dayan's brief remarks at the funeral of an officer named Roy Rotenberg who was murdered in 1956 patrolling the Israeli-Gaza border in th...

October 28, 2023 Jonathan is the CEO of the JCC in Krakow Podland

Elie Wiesel talked about madness descending on Europe in the 1930s. Cultured, urbane, sophisticated Germans who loved opera and philosophy, and who were nice to their dogs and cats, warmed to the Nazis. A similar madness is descending on American college campuses and universities today. It is madness because throngs of students feel that Israel is an apartheid regime; that it is morally always in...

            I would like to start with something lovely, the most beautiful words in the world:  I love you forever . Think of the people and places that have inspired these magical words.             I have a question.  How long is forever ?  How long do we get to keep who and what we love forever?              This past Monday, our beloved friend and teacher in Jerusalem, Micah Goodman, was spea...