“For ten days, the gates are open, and the world is fluid. We are finally awake, if only in fits and starts, if only to toss and turn. For ten days, transformation is within our grasp. For ten days, we can imagine ourselves not as fixed and immutable beings, but rather as a limitless field upon which qualities and impulses rise up with particular intensity...” — Rabbi Alan Lew This Is Real and You Are [...]
Dear Tifereth Israel Friends, Cantor Ze'ev Weinstein and I are excited to usher in the new year with you in less than a week! We are planning what we hope will be meaningful and participatory high holiday services, filled with singing and learning. Tashlich sheets (as well as birdseed) will also be available at the synagogue on the first day of Rosh Hashanah. Birdseed!? It turns out that bread isn't healthy for fish or birds, [...]
In the reflective spirit that follows our national celebration of independence on the Fourth of July, we are invited not just to look back — but to look deeper. The fireworks may have faded, but the question remains: What is freedom? And how do we live it? Both the Bible and the American story are conversations about freedom. They are messy, complex, and hopeful — not just about liberty as an idea, but as [...]
Dear Members and Friends, Just last Thursday, on June 13, the date that echoes the 613 commandments of our tradition, I reached out to you in the wake of Israel’s preemptive operation in Iran. We were all feeling the weight of uncertainty and concern for our homeland and for the Jewish people everywhere. What is emerging now is nothing short of remarkable. In just a few days, history has continued to unfold at lightning [...]
With the selection of Pope Leo XIV, Robert Francis Prevost, and in light of the film “Conclave,” which I happened to watch by chance on a flight back from Florida, I’ve been reflecting on the difference between perception and reality in religious institutions. The film was hard to watch. According to friends in the clergy, Hollywood took too many liberties and included a number of inaccuracies. But the hardest concept to explain to secular audiences, and even [...]
The following letter to the editors was sent to the members of GEM (Greenport Ecumenical Ministries), and is reprinted here, with permission: Dear GEMs, On behalf of Congregation Tifereth Israel and myself, I extend our heartfelt condolences to our Catholic brothers and sisters on the passing of His Holiness, Pope Francis. His papacy has accompanied me through most of my rabbinic journey, and when I think of the role of the pope through a [...]
The period between Purim and Passover, two festivals that are deeply intertwined, is a journey of connection to our innermost identity. Both tell stories of danger, courage, and redemption. On Purim, we wear masks; on Passover, we remove them. We deflate not only our bread but our egos. We strip away the disguises we wear in exile. Between the two holidays, I’ve been immersed in reading Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove’s recent and compelling book, For Such a Time as [...]
I am writing this message on March 20, the 20th day of Adar. Exactly 30 years ago on this very day on the Jewish calendar, I was on my way to Jerusalem to register for architecture school. Little did I know that God had a different plan for me. It was a moment of transition — my final week after four years of army service. I had chosen not to extend my service again. I had given my [...]
Life is a constant movement between order and disorder, a delicate balance between structure and chaos, between the expected and unexpected, between moments of clarity and the unknown. This tension is the very essence of our existence — the breath that sustains us and the drama that shapes our journey. In the midst of the profound pain in Israel and for Jews around the world, Hamas released the lifeless bodies of two young souls, [...]
When my sister in Israel mentioned she would stop in New York on her way to our nephew’s wedding in Cartagena, Colombia, she casually noted that her trip coincided with the upcoming inauguration of the returning President, Donald J. Trump. Attending a presidential inauguration had never crossed my mind before. But recognizing how rare and special this moment could be for my sister and brother-in-law, I decided to try to make it happen. I reached [...]
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