tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32318501471546981912024-03-13T22:50:26.395-04:00SholomRav(or What is Rabbi Abraham thinking?)SholomRavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950949356964840799noreply@blogger.comBlogger82125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3231850147154698191.post-84261012883456512552023-04-25T16:09:00.001-04:002023-04-25T16:09:46.575-04:00We Must Still Will It, or It Will Be No DreamCelebrating 75 Years of the Modern State of IsraelIn Israel, as the sun sets tonight, Yom haZikaron will transition into Yom haAtzma'ut. In Israel, Memorial Day (Yom haZikaron) is marked the day before Independence Day (Yom haAtzma'ut), so that we remember those who gave their lives so that the modern state of Israel could come into being and survive.According to the Hebrew calendar, Rabbi Joel N. Abrahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00444223650261384579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3231850147154698191.post-91856819360471316092022-07-11T12:06:00.001-04:002022-07-12T21:05:12.817-04:00Work Gods I finally got around to reading a fascinating piece forwarded to me by a Temple Sholom congregant from the New York Times, entitled "When Your Job Fills in for Your Faith, That's a Problem" by Dr. Carolyn Chen. I was reminded of a High HolyDay sermon series that my father gave decades ago at Temple Beth El in Somerville. He brought up how people exercise (in Rabbi Joel N. Abrahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00444223650261384579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3231850147154698191.post-35937568853406068242022-05-02T11:35:00.002-04:002022-05-02T11:35:57.302-04:00Made Up GodIt has been a while since I last posted here. I want to get back to sharing what congregants have shared with me, to broaden conversations, especially those that help us and give life, rather than diminish it. Susan Sedwin shared with me this morning, an Op-Ed from the New York Times by Scott Hershovitz, which you can find here. I had also read it this morning and Rabbi Joel N. Abrahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00444223650261384579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3231850147154698191.post-22124556504705839722020-11-01T15:23:00.003-05:002020-11-01T15:25:51.839-05:00Planning Ahead for a Moment of Civic HealingI was asked to write an article for the Union County Clergy Interfaith Coordinating Council November newsletter, which was themed "Reconciliation". I am currently in a Doctor of Ministry program at Drew University Theological School. In our introduction to the Doctor of Ministry course, we were invited to collaborate to create a public witness or liturgy. This SholomRavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950949356964840799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3231850147154698191.post-72596926440784061702017-09-12T13:10:00.001-04:002017-09-12T15:03:08.033-04:00Standing in the Rain/Speaking Truth to PowerTemple Sholom congregant David Richmand* just shared with me David Brooks' latest OpEd in the New York Times about the universal imagery and lessons of the flood narrative.
As always, I find Brooks to be knowledgeable and willing to go beyond the surface level in his thinking - especially in areas concerning morality. While the texts about Noah are not new to me - and hopefully Rabbi Joel N. Abrahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00444223650261384579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3231850147154698191.post-707771827161093812017-05-02T10:01:00.001-04:002017-05-02T10:01:33.922-04:00Israel, Thy Very Name is Struggle - Yom haAtzma'ut 5777Today is Yom haAtzma'ut - Israeli Independence Day. In Genesis, when Jacob receives his eponymous name for our people, we are told that it means the one who struggles with God and humanity. [Gen. 32:28] Nowhere else is this more apparent than in our modern day redemption in the state of Israel.
For millennia, our people have lived by the oft-repeated Biblical exhortation to Rabbi Joel N. Abrahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00444223650261384579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3231850147154698191.post-66239608776984295942017-01-30T16:19:00.001-05:002017-01-30T16:19:01.577-05:00Hevel, Hevel, haKol Hevel and I'm Not Sure What's New under the SunI have a tallit that my family made for me to wear when I planned to march with the NAACP's Journey for Justice in the summer of 2015. I could not make that trip, due to illness, but I wore it one or two times at rallies since then and at at the opening of the Reform Movement's Nitzavim campaign in August.
Since last week, I've decided to keep it to hand in my car.
I had a congregant Rabbi Joel N. Abrahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00444223650261384579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3231850147154698191.post-46372387723006032112016-10-16T12:19:00.001-04:002016-10-16T14:03:34.843-04:00The Collateral Damage of Love-BombingSusan Sedwin forwarded this NPR article to me:
Black, Jewish And Avoiding The Synagogue On Yom Kippur
My first thought is that I do not have an answer that will either heal the deep pain and alienation felt by the author, or, more importantly to me as a synagogue rabbi, that will avoid replicating this experience for other non-white Jews entering our places of worship.
My second Rabbi Joel N. Abrahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00444223650261384579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3231850147154698191.post-4808662941206009342016-08-10T12:34:00.002-04:002016-08-10T12:34:55.926-04:00Do Not Let Baseless Hatred Destroy Our Society
Because most synagogues have less activity (including no religious school) in the summer, the holiday of Tisha b’Av (the Ninth of the Hebrew month of Av) often passes by unremarked. While most Jewish holidays celebrate a massive deliverance, Tisha b’Av* marks not just one national tragedy, but several. It is believed that the first Temple in Jerusalem, built by King Solomon, was Rabbi Joel N. Abrahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00444223650261384579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3231850147154698191.post-50943551316793455732015-09-11T12:08:00.001-04:002015-09-11T12:08:44.106-04:00We Must Speak Out against ALL Terrorism (Even When It Hurts)Natalie Darwin brought this article from yesterday's New York Times (Israeli Terrorists, Born the USA) to my attention. Just like many stories we see in the headlines, she hoped it wasn't true.
Sadly, regarding some American Jews living in Israel, I believe it is.
I lived in Israel and was there the Purim that Baruch Goldstein opened fire on innocent Arabs. That year, I had a large beard Rabbi Joel N. Abrahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00444223650261384579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3231850147154698191.post-76544165781788708902015-08-01T12:03:00.001-04:002015-08-01T12:03:36.532-04:00An Opportunity to Pray with Your Feet
[E-mailed to Temple Sholom members on 7/31/15]
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, the modern American Jewish prophet, famously said of his time spent on the Voting Rights March in Selma, Alabama, in 1965, that "I felt my legs were praying." We pray a lot in the synagogue, sitting and standing, but perhaps we do not take enough time to walk the walk; to pray with our Rabbi Joel N. Abrahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00444223650261384579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3231850147154698191.post-25105044599445145612015-07-23T23:17:00.005-04:002015-07-23T23:17:58.325-04:00A Lamentation and a Journey
עַל אֵלֶּה | אֲנִי בוֹכִיָּה עֵינִי | עֵינִי יֹרְדָה מַּיִם כִּי רָחַק מִמֶּנִּי מְנַחֵם מֵשִׁיב נַפְשִׁי הָיוּ בָנַי שׁוֹמֵמִים כִּי גָבַר אוֹיֵב: פֵּרְשָׂה צִיּוֹן בְּיָדֶיהָ אֵין מְנַחֵם לָהּ
For these things, I cry out. My eye, my eye pours down water, because the comfort that would restore my soul is far from me. My children are desolate, because the enemy has prevailed. Zion spreadsRabbi Joel N. Abrahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00444223650261384579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3231850147154698191.post-15059574627152371622015-04-17T10:53:00.000-04:002015-04-17T10:53:09.118-04:00Returning to Auschwitz Again, and Leaving with Hope
Motzei Yom haShoah 5755
It is dark now in Krakow. The sun set while we ate our dinner after hearing the trumpeter blow the traditional peal at 7pm. Yesterday, erev Yom haShoah, the five students in our Confirmation class, a congregant chaperone, and I held an early evening service in Birkenau - praying and reading El Malei Rachamim by Crematorium Number Two. &SholomRavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950949356964840799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3231850147154698191.post-5948401090748477632014-10-26T22:39:00.001-04:002014-10-26T22:39:59.481-04:00Stam Ish - I'm Just One Ordinary Person
Recently, I have imagined myself living in the nexus of a multi-generational debate over an interpretation of a passage in the Torah. My teacher at HUC in Israel, Rabbi Ben Hollander (z’l), brought us the text of a pivotal moment in the Joseph story. Joseph is sent by his father to seek the welfare of his brothers, who are off with the flocks. Joseph arrives in Shechem and theyRabbi Joel N. Abrahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00444223650261384579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3231850147154698191.post-15345278248865523262014-08-26T17:54:00.001-04:002014-08-26T17:54:50.183-04:00haTikvah - Don't Lose the Hope!A member of the congregation challenged me to read this OpEd by Antony Lerman in the New York Times Sunday Review. I was telling her that I thought her views on Israel were probably very close the mainstream of the congregation. She said that she had read this article and had felt great sympathy with its point of view and therefore was probably out of step with our suburban New Rabbi Joel N. Abrahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00444223650261384579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3231850147154698191.post-44144537281281264992014-07-25T14:36:00.001-04:002014-07-25T14:36:13.177-04:00Israel - What I Know and Don't Know - with credit to Rabbi Donniel HartmanOther than from the bimah at services, or when people have asked directly, I have not made any public statements about the current situation in Israel, but I have come to the conclusion that sharing my thoughts may help members of the congregation, who are also concerned, to validate that there are others who are disturbed, concerned, confused, etc., about what is going in Israel, the land that Rabbi Joel N. Abrahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00444223650261384579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3231850147154698191.post-17984173713944083462013-04-04T15:16:00.001-04:002013-04-04T15:16:59.616-04:00Mannequin Judaism
Thank you to Lucy Taub for bringing this exhibit to my attention - through this article (I also read this article from the JTA newsfeed from Salon.com.)
Briefly, the Jewish Museum in Berlin (also known as the Liebeskind Museum, after the architect who designed it) has set up a temporary exhibit (through September 1, 2013), in which volunteers, who Rabbi Joel N. Abrahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00444223650261384579noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3231850147154698191.post-69557409410040577152012-12-21T12:57:00.002-05:002012-12-21T12:57:58.582-05:00Women Rabbis - Who Needs to Be Comfortable?Thank you to Marc Leibowitz for bringing to my attention this exchange on the Atlantic blog, following up on an Op-Ed in the Washington Post about how we view women clergy.
I will add my limited wisdom here:
First of all, on the other side, I cannot tell you how many times (with different congregations), I have heard the story of the religious school child who asked the question, "Boys can growRabbi Joel N. Abrahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00444223650261384579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3231850147154698191.post-71956159038512662262012-12-17T13:15:00.001-05:002012-12-17T13:20:09.845-05:00HaKotel, The Western WallDear Prime Minister Netanyahu,I regularly subscribe to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs webblast, and so I read with interest the Cabinet Communique from yesterday morning (16 December 2012). The headline quoted you as follows: PM Netanyahu: The Western Wall symbolizes the foundation of our existence here for thousands of years. We will stand steadfast in the face of all those who SholomRavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950949356964840799noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3231850147154698191.post-76857668600870163242011-12-18T10:56:00.000-05:002011-12-18T10:56:39.235-05:00Temple Sholom of Scotch Plains/Fanwood, NJ - 8th Grade - L'Atid Lavo Future of Reform Judaism Resolution 2011We, the next generation of Reform Judaism, in order to build upon our current religious practices realize that we must take the old and turn it into something new and relevant while keeping the general values and ideas of the Reform movement alive.
For our services, we agree we should keep Hebrew due to the overall connection to other Jews and lack of direct translation. But we should SholomRavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950949356964840799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3231850147154698191.post-62262452200564414322011-09-12T12:03:00.002-04:002011-09-12T12:03:56.782-04:00Is there a difference between empowerment and DIY Judaism?I want to, with 3 cautions, recommend an article by Jay Michaelson in the Jewish Daily Forward ("Don't Call the Rabbi, Make Your Own Rituals" - 9/8/11). Reform Judaism is based on the idea of informed choice - so the more that you are empowered and educated in your own Judaism the better. I am proud that we are studying the lifecycle throughout the congregation for this trimester, SholomRavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950949356964840799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3231850147154698191.post-37977549569170492432011-08-30T14:43:00.000-04:002011-08-30T14:43:43.145-04:00Haimishe - It's All the RageTS President Susan Sedwin pointed out this column from the New York Times ("The Haimish Line" by David Brooks - 8/30/11).
To take a moment for some self-congratulatory back-patting - we've known all about being haimishe for years.
SholomRavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950949356964840799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3231850147154698191.post-71475313064074984532011-08-22T11:50:00.000-04:002011-08-22T11:50:51.104-04:00That's What Jewish Looks LikeAlso this past Shabbat, thank you to congregant Rita Ferraro for bringing me a copy of the New York Times Article on B'chol Lashon's summer camp (August 12, 2011, "Prayer, and Bug Juice, at a Summer Camp for Jews of Color" by Samuel G. Freedman). A few of my colleagues on faculty at URJ Eisner Camp had brought it up as well last week. The camp is run by Bechol Lashon, an SholomRavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950949356964840799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3231850147154698191.post-19742550293860597442011-08-22T10:52:00.000-04:002011-08-22T10:52:22.241-04:00Where Do Jews Have It the Worst?Ellen Wolff sent me Roger Cohen's latest Op-Ed in the New York Times (August 20, 2011), entitled "Jews in a Whisper". The piece is interesting - a reflection via Philip Roth's Deception on the latent anti-Semitism still prevalent in Great Britain. I would argue that current anti-Israel sentiment in Great Britain may be a product of former prejudices, but it has a new virulence SholomRavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950949356964840799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3231850147154698191.post-57041170655563857102011-07-07T11:30:00.000-04:002011-07-07T11:30:50.961-04:00Memory and the Nazi Legacy: Modern Germany from a Jewish PerspectiveTake a look at this note from Andi Milens. It resonates with some of what I have seen in our trips to Germany and Poland over the last few years. The good news is that things are starting to change in Poland.Memory and the Nazi Legacy: Modern Germany from a Jewish PerspectiveSholomRavhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950949356964840799noreply@blogger.com0