SholomRav

Temple Sholom of Scotch Plains/Fanwood, NJ - 8th Grade - L'Atid Lavo Future of Reform Judaism Resolution 2011

2011-12-18T10:56:00.000-05:00

We, 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

Is there a difference between empowerment and DIY Judaism?

2011-09-12T12:03:00.002-04:00

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, and the

Haimishe - It's All the Rage

2011-08-30T14:43:00.000-04:00

TS 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.

That's What Jewish Looks Like

2011-08-22T11:50:00.000-04:00

Also 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 organization that is

Where Do Jews Have It the Worst?

2011-08-22T10:52:00.000-04:00

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 all its own - but

Memory and the Nazi Legacy: Modern Germany from a Jewish Perspective

2011-07-07T11:30:00.000-04:00

Take 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 Perspective

We live in exciting times.... hopefully a blessing for the Reform Movement

2011-03-23T09:17:00.000-04:00

Mazal tov and chazak v'ameitz (strength and courage) to Rabbi Rick Jacobs of Westchester Reform Temple, who was officially nominated yesterday to be the next president of the Union for Reform Judaism. Rick is a gifted and creative rabbi - of one of the original ECE congregations; passionate for social justice - a long-time board member of the American Jewish World Service; and a visionary leader

And the Jewish Vote is?

2011-03-14T15:30:00.000-04:00

TS congregant Leslie Klieger suggested that I post a link to the new National Jewish Political Survey, which is being conducted by HUC professor Steven Windmuller. You can follow the link above to an HUC article about the survey, which includes a link to the survey itself. Are American Jews becoming more politically conservative? Or are more religiously conservative Jews becoming more

It Seems the Kiddush Cup is Half Empty...

2011-02-14T13:05:00.000-05:00

Why is it that all of the press and surveys of Jewish life always seem to begin with pessimism and doom and gloom? The Jewish Daily Forward, while a great (re)new(ed) meeting place for American Judaism, seems to be doing its best to "disrespect" all the established American Jewish institutions. Following up on its series of comparisons of how they are more expensive than comparative Christian

Latest News from Congregation Or Hadash on the Fires outside Haifa

2010-12-06T11:42:00.000-05:00

Below is a letter from Rabbi Edgar Nof, from Congregation Or-Hadash in Haifa regarding the latest on the forest fires outside of Haifa: The fires are finally out, rebuilding begins. Dear Friends, Today, Monday, Dec. 6th, is the first day we are fully back to work in our office with all our staff. In spite of the horrific tragedy, we are directed by Hilel’s law: “Ma’alim Ba’kodesh Ve’lo Moridim

Whose Wall is it Anyways [sic]?

2010-10-26T13:58:00.000-04:00

An excellent article in today's Jerusalem Post gives a detailed background on the Kotel (the Western Wall) and what is going on there now, and what the stakes may be. Feel free to follow up with the Women of the Wall site.

Your Torah in the News

2010-10-19T14:33:00.000-04:00

Via the proud grandfather of Avital and Ezri, the following quote comes from today's New York Times, in an article remembering Human Rights lawyer, Louis Henkin: By extension, truth must include thoughts on grandchildren held by the professor and his wife, Alice Hartman Henkin, a human rights lawyer herself. A few years ago, Mrs. Henkin explained to a newly minted grandfather what it was like to

A Light at the End of the Black Hat?

2010-10-11T11:54:00.000-04:00

In speaking with a colleague last week, he shared his impressions of a visit to a hareidi town in Israel that is finding that, as it starts having to serve as a fully functional municipal entity, is learning that it is having to send its citizens back to work. There are cracks in hareidi society which, despite its press, has been changing and becoming ever more intolerant and machmir(strict).

How Bad Are Things between US Jews and Israel?

2010-09-13T16:30:00.001-04:00

Former Temple Sholom President wrote me today asking if the facts contained in an appeal [appended below] from ARZA (the Association of Reform Zionists of America) were reasonably correct. As I am happy to answer such questions, I asked Mark if I could post my answer here: Dear Mark, You can check out my blog (sholomrav.blogspot.com) for my comments as things were happening. Is this piece

Passion (or, in Hebrew, the middah/value of z'rizut)

2010-08-31T10:42:00.001-04:00

I thought that I would (with his permission) share this letter that I just received from congregant, Stephen Schoeman. I find his comments well-reasoned, thought-provoking, and, dare I say it, passionate: Dear Rabbi Abraham, Many years ago Rabbi Goldman gave a sermon on passion which I have always remembered and which has inspired me over the intervening years. He was not referring to

Mazal Tov to our sister congregation, Szim Salom in Budapest

2010-08-26T15:53:00.001-04:00

Hurrah for our sister congregation in Budapest - Szim Salom on their new building. See the article from the World Union for Progressive Judaism. Now it's our turn to have a place to welcome them to visit us!

Drop that Ease(y) Button!

2010-08-02T09:49:00.002-04:00

In his almost weekly 77% Weekly, my colleague, Rabbi Brian Zachary Mayer (whom I have oft-quoted), the spiritual leader of the Religion Outside the Box community, offered the following essay for this week It disturbed me and, since I was not at ease, I felt compelled to respond: Dear RABZAM, I'm afraid that I have to offer a different interpretation. A mind at ease is not a good thing; it is

Good news - Conversion Bill Halted

2010-07-19T11:22:00.000-04:00

Good news from the IRAC - see this report.

Home is the Place Where, When You Have to Go There, They Make You Feel Unwelcome...

2010-07-14T10:53:00.008-04:00

I sent the letter below to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, (titled: The Conversion Bill in the K'nesset, the Arrest of Anat Hoffman, and Relationship with Diaspora Jews) through the RAC website: (I include links in this copy, which were not included in the original. Also, the letter at the bottom can be signed and set at the RAC site here and above. A report about my meeting with the

Anat Hoffman and Torah Scroll Arrested at the Wall...

2010-07-12T14:52:00.004-04:00

This morning, during Women at the Wall's Rosh Chodesh Av prayer service, IRAC director and Women of the Wall leader, Anat Hoffman, was arrested along with the WOW Torah scroll. She was eventually released, but was banned from the Wall for 30 days. Look at the pictures on the IRAC Facebook site to see how many women were there. Read the reports (from Reform Rabbi Denise Eger; from JTA; from

Jews, Go Home...

2010-06-08T14:16:00.003-04:00

Congregant Marjorie Leffler sent me Richard Cohen's column in the Washington Post about the Helen Thomas Affair. For those of you who missed the flap, most senior White House correspondent, Helen Thomas, was interviewed by a Jewish blogger on his way into the White House for a Jewish American Heritage month reception. Quite surprisingly, when asked about the current situation vis-a-vis the Gaza

A Mosque Too Close?

2010-05-28T11:30:00.003-04:00

I'll weigh in here on the issue of building a Muslim center and mosque near the World Trade Center site. (There is an article and an editorial in the Forward.) I understand the sensitivity to those who lost loved ones, but I see this as a gesture of solidarity. Truly, it is more than a gesture. If rebuilding the site is a way for New York and the United States to say, "Your hatred will not

No longer "Jews", if identified as "for Jesus"

2010-04-01T12:54:00.006-04:00

Yesterday, the Terrill Road Baptist Church hosted the director of the local Jews for Jesus. This organization, originally founded by the Southern Baptists to missionize (that means attempt to convert) the Jews, purports to represent Jews who have found religious fulfillment in the idea that Jesus is the Jewish messiah.Although I wish them joy in their new found faith, I do maintain that by

What Do We Know about What We Know?

2010-02-24T13:38:00.003-05:00

In Tzeh Ulimad (Hebrew Union College's Blog of Continuing Jewish Learning), my classmate and friend, Scott Aaron challenges us to stop and think about what we know about Jewish education - and more importantly, how we judge what we know - before we evaluate how (badly) we are doing. Rabbi Aaron's article is here and my comment, if not yet published, is reprinted below:Dear Scott,First of all,

Good News from Israel

2010-02-22T10:00:00.005-05:00

Anat Hoffman, director of the Israeli Religious Action Center, wrote in the IRAC weekly e-mail newsletter that the Israeli Supreme Court has issued a sharp rebuke to Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz, who had ignored a recommendation by one of his committees to restrict the practice of segregating buses - a small victory for pluralism in Israel, gained by our Israeli Religious Action Center.It

A Response from the Israeli Embassy

2010-02-18T12:08:00.002-05:00

Several congregants took the opportunity to write a letter to Michael Oren, the Israeli Ambassador to the United States in Washington, DC. This is the response that they received. I found it terse and unhelpful, to say the least.Most notably, it seems to be a threat to those who would violate the law when praying at the Kotel. Two of the things to clarify about the letter are that it misses

Trying to Bridge the Israel-Diaspora Gap

2010-02-02T22:19:00.006-05:00

This afternoon, I, along with two other rabbis, had an appointment with Deputy Consul Benjamin Krasna. Responding to Anat Hoffman's request that Diaspora Jews use the channels of the Israeli representatives to our local communities to communicate to the Israeli government how we feel about the recent events at the Kotel, we were a small delegation representing the New Jersey-West Hudson Valley

Answer This Call...

2010-01-11T14:11:00.005-05:00

Last Friday night, we read the first portion of the book of Exodus, Sh'mot. Specifically, we read the beginning of chapter 3, where Moses encounters the burning bush. For my sermon, I spoke about Moses receiving a call from God. I mentioned (as our student Cantor chuckled) about how uncomfortable we, as Jewish clergy, feel when a (usually) non-Jewish person asks us about our "call" - when

Standing Together

2009-12-22T12:18:00.003-05:00

Kol hakavod to the women and men of our congregation who gathered last Shabbat to stand in solidarity with the Women of the Wall in reaction to the arrest of Nofrat Frenkel last month. (See this article from the New York Times on the IRAC site for the details of this month's gathering at the wall in Jerusalem.)

NOT Tidings of Comfort and Joy

2009-12-11T11:30:00.004-05:00

Larry Berman, our bookkeeper, Religious School administrator, and beloved sixth grade teacher brought David Brook's Op-Ed article from today's New York Times to my attention.Whew.I have often reflected on the irony of celebrating Chanukah in a Reform setting, as the FIRST people that the Maccabees fought were the Hellenizing "Reform" Jews of their day. (The other irony is that a holiday

Is a Picture Hipper than 1,000 Words?

2009-11-30T11:00:00.003-05:00

Back to the Forward (really the in-print gathering place for the current Jewish zeitgeist) - their edgy cartoonist Eli Valley skewers Jewish leadership and self-pretension every week. Quite honestly, I often think he goes too far and (many) others accuse him of self-hatred. However this week's strip asks the ironic question, "What if Kafka's contemporaries conceived of the ironic,

A Reform Ba'al Teshuvah?

2009-11-30T10:50:00.002-05:00

I call your attention to an article in the current Forward by Jacob Neusner. In it, he makes the case for his return to the Reform movement, after an adult lifetime as a Conservative Jew. His reasoning is interesting, and the comments after do a pretty good job of laying out where American Jews are at this moment early in the 21st century.Neusner divides Jewish formal affiliation into two camps

The Struggle for Jewish Identity as Seen on Film

2009-10-02T11:14:00.004-04:00

A. O. Scott (the New York Times film reviewer) has the beginnings of an interesting article which will appear on Sunday, but came in the electronic movie reviews today. Beginnings, because I am not sure that he gets anywhere. Contemplating his own Jewish heritage, he looks at recent movies with explicit, implicit, or referential Jewish themes - Inglorious Basterds, Funny People, and A Serious

A (Reform) Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste

2009-09-25T10:55:00.004-04:00

A college student whom I greatly admire, often disagree with, but am proud to say that I got to know at Kutz - the Campus for Reform Jewish Teens, has posted about the Reform movement's lack of resource commitment to our college membership on his blog: The Reform Shuckle. It is worth the read - and even more worth our support as Reform Jews and members of the URJ.

Yes, Jews Believe That Too

2009-09-25T10:33:00.002-04:00

As it often does for its Friday Jewish World subject, the URJ's Ten Minutes of Torah picked up an editorial from the New Jersey Jewish News (this time the editorial, rather than Andrew Silow-Carroll's piece). The editor makes a point that we have been making here at the Temple for quite some time - modern Judaism encompasses many different theologies: skeptics and strict atheists are also

Why Are Jews Liberals? Because They Are Jews.

2009-09-22T12:45:00.006-04:00

Several congregants called my attention to the September 10th Op-Ed piece by Norman Podhoretz in the Wall Street Journal. In short, Podhoretz - a noted Conservative with a capital "C" politically - decries the fact that American Jews so firmly identify (and vote) with the Democratic party. His postulate is that American Jews have replaced Judaism with Liberalism as their religion. His hope is

Kol haKavod to a congregant - and a challenge to you

2009-08-24T14:51:00.001-04:00

I received this e-mail from a congregant last week. A mazal tov to him for his social justice actions and passed on to you as an encouragement to use your voice...Dear friends,Today I visited my congressman's local office, for the first timeever. I went to personally discuss my reasons for supporting majorhealth-care reform. Rep. Lance is a Republican, but so far he is nota hard-liner. I

Life Partners (in crime?)

2009-07-31T19:15:00.002-04:00

Members of the congregation have requested to see the article in the July 17, 2009 Courier-News that featured Michelle and I. (Click on the "Courier-News" above to link to the article)

“You must reprove your kin, lest you bear their sin yourself.” – Leviticus 19:17

2009-07-30T10:48:00.002-04:00