Our hotel room overlooks the old city walls of Jerusalem, a view that never gets old. Last night, we planned for an early bedtime for our kids as we prepare for a sunrise trip to Masada and a float in the Dead Sea before Shabbat. As the kids recited the nighttime Shema, I looked outside and saw a bride and groom standing under a chupah as the band sang Im eshkachech yerushalayim, if I forget thee O Jerusalem.
Honorable Mensch-ion
God
We present ourselves uniquely dependent upon the circumstance we find ourselves. To many, I am a Rabbi. In my home, I am a husband and father. When visiting my parents and siblings, I am a son and a brother. And yet, no matter where I go, I am still myself.
Whose Story Will You Tell?
We are in the midst of the nine days of Av, as we approach the saddest day of the Jewish calendar, Tisha B’Av. On Wednesday evening, we will sit on the floor of Kohn Chapel in darkness, reciting the entire book of Lamentations.
How Do We Travel?
I miss the AAA TripTik. When I was in 4th grade, each student chose a place in the United States they wished to travel to. My sister was a freshman at Brandeis University, so I chose Boston. I went to AAA, they handed me a map, and I highlighted the must-see landmarks: Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride, the Boston Tea Party ship, Fenway Park, Faneuil Hall, and more. I prepared myself to know what I would see. When I experienced those places, they were much more than stops on an itinerary. Each stop had a deeper meaning, for its past history and what it meant to me as a young American.
Lessons I Learned from Rabbi Wolpe
It is a gift to sit at the foot of your teacher day after day.
Rabbis and Israel
As you enter the Knesset, Israel’s parliament building, you pass a replica of the Declaration of Independence. The first line states, “We hereby declare the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Yisrael.”
Sacred Silence
Our daily interactions with strangers are often mundane. Yet, when a scared moment occurs, we must stop and notice.
Alma Matters
Do you recall the words to your high school alma mater? While I cannot recite all of the lyrics of mine, I do remember the concluding verse, “As we go on through the years, friendships hold whether far or near, as we sing, “Manner makyth man.”
Heavenly Torah
The most nerve-racking job for a Rabbi is to walk into a pre-school classroom unprepared.
Power
In the new book, Reorganized Religion, veteran religion writer Bob Smietana analyzes the seismic shifts in religious disaffiliation in America: Synagogues and churches closing and merging, a larger category of “nones,” those who call themselves spiritual yet proudly declare their independence of connection to a religious community. Last week, in The Wall Street Journal, the report was more enthusiastic, as Clare Ansberry described the uptick in young professionals desire for organized religion and sacred community.
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