Real Rabbi NYC

R’eih gives us the choice of the blessing or the curse. Whether it’s child rearing, or speaking up when sexual assault or abuse of power occur, the choices we make are never easy. We have to balance them with the society we live in and what we can manage. Here I share my personal experience of choosing unpopular ways of raising my children, and the predictions people made about their future, and o...

Black boys, public pools, drowning, mass incarceration, the death penalty, crusted hearts, stiff necks, and the Parsha.

This week as we commemorate the destruction of the Temple, we mourn. What are we mourning, really? We are experiencing the hottest temperatures this summer on record. What do we do about it? Will prayer bring us where we need to go? God, through Isaiah, has a lot to say about this.

With wildfires sending smoke across the globe, and heat rising to unprecedented levels, can we even escape? What can we learn from the Torah this week?

Recounting just some the magic that happened for me last week at the Kallah conference for Jewish Renewal. Am I worthy? Worth the listen!

Today I explore the idea of magic and how it shows up in the Torah, Judaism and our lives.

I watched a ridiculous Spanish series on Netflix about royalty that I couldn’t tear myself away from. What does this have to do with Korakh’s rebellion? Listen and find out.

I did a wedding on Saturday afternoon, which turned out great, but there was so much talk about what I should wear as the rabbi, it made me crazy. Blazers and trailblazers, assumptions and laws. How do we figure out what’s right while also respecting our traditions? So very complicated, yet so very simple.

I got ahead of myself in Torah last week, but I have a story that fits perfectly with next week’s Parsha, so I’m talking about it anyway. And though the smoke from wildfires of Canada sweeping into the United States feels apocalyptic, that’s not my story, but it sure feels similar after this week from hell.

A revelation came to me last week as Shavuot, the holiday of Revelation, descended upon me last week. I’m entering new territory, and not sure where it will take me, but it sure is exciting! Take a listen.

Why does it sometimes feel like when you don’t want to be counted as part of the “in” group, it’s so easy? Other times, when you do want to be counted as “in,” you’re out. Questions of inclusivity and exclusivity are so pertinent to Judaism and to the world, for the survival of all. If we don’t “get it” soon, what is the future of humanity?

What does it mean when the Torah says God will walk amongst us? How do we know if we’re doing what God wants so God will walk with us? A couple of weeks ago another young gay person committed suicide. Because he felt that his brothers were not walking with him. And I’m getting so much pushback from other rabbis for co-officiating at these weddings! Walk with me and explore what it means to walk wi...

What is holiness? What is holy? Should perfection be associated with holiness, and why is it so in the Torah? This week I met with an Evangelical Christian pastor with whom I will be co-officiating at a wedding. It brought up many questions I had to answer for myself—again!

Leviticus is full rules. The one I focus on here is The Golden Rule, perhaps the hardest thing. But being kind to others, even strangers, is more important and has more of an impact than we ever imagine.

We’re in the midst of a mental health crisis due to an epidemic of loneliness. But we’re not helpless. Listen to some great ideas of small ways to help yourself and others.

Passover can be about our personal freedom and leaving the narrow place of Egypt, but the focus is really on the collective. If living a holy life is what we seek, then how do we do it? This week’s parsha tells us a little bit about that.

The hardest time leading up to Passover is the week just before—or the days. The cleaning, shopping, cooking, all have to happen in a particular order. Once leavened products are out of your house, you still can’t eat matzoh. So much liminal time—the difficulty of waiting. This is what the priests go through before ordination: waiting for seven days in a doorway. As we struggle as a world, with al...

In this week’s episode, I explore the question of sacrifice, respect, and how we can approach a crumbling world that feels too overwhelming to have an impact.

Here I discuss the special pressure on women to look a certain way, how social media has blurred the lines between private and professional life, and how difficult it is to navigate this as I step fully into being an older, female rabbi. And what this has to do with this week’s Torah reading.

My phone fell into a New York City compost bin, totally derailing plans for the day. I was forced to check my faith that day. The Israelites, Moses, God—all had their faith challenged. It’s a funny story, but also serious because if we’re cynical, how can we bring about positive change in the world?

Is cleaning out messy drawers a waste of time, or does it have some deeper spiritual meaning? That’s what I explore in this week’s episode in relation to the Parsha with its pomegranates and bells.

There is so much despair in the world today, and younger generations are as hopeless as they come about the future. But what do they need from us, and how can the Torah guide us here to live from a more heart-cantered place, to not become disheartened ourselves, so we can support them?

I have things sprouting, blooming, growing all over my apartment—not mold! Although I’m sure there’s some of that as well. How do we decide whether to take the mandate, “We will do and we will hear” literally or not? That’s where I am this week as I reflect on my recent ordination and all the craziness in the world that calls for immediate action.

Buddhist psychotherapist Bruce Tift says we use the excuse of our wounds to avoid showing up in our lives. I posit that the Israelites do the same. They miss out on an incredible opportunity. Listen for some wisdom—and revelation!

In life, we go from ecstasy to complaint and back again. It’s not a straight journey. So too with the Israelites. We need song and celebration to give us strength, but these are complex, reflecting the complexity of our hearts.