Category: Uncategorized

  • The Attempted Un-Coupling of Zionism from Judaism

    I have been so distraught over educated, connected Jews (like rabbis and educators and Mandy Patinkin) calling for unilateral ceasefire, using words like “genocide” and similar (all against Israel). 1/ Zionism began in 586 BCE. Read Psalm 137 for documentation on such. We (global Jewry) are known biblically as B’nei Yisrael (and the Quran even…

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  • A #JDAIM Read of Mishpatim

    Originally posted on Kolot Ha’Dor In the parsha Mishpatim, God gives Moses very detailed rules about how the people of Israel should live their lives. The parsha outlines three festive holidays for the people to observe and celebrate: Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot, and it lays out the terms of the covenant – a new land…

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  • UPDATE: Menschlikheit is important!

    Back in January 2018, I wrote this blog post about how Jews need to branch out beyond “spiritual” and “religious” when describing their Jewish identity.   In that post, I posited five aspects of Jewish identity:  Observance, Expression, Knowledge/Literacy, Connection and Spirituality.  Then I asked readers to weigh in on if a sixth category, of…

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  • It’s Not Jewish to be “Religious and/or Spiritual”

    During my doctor classwork, I read Robert Wuthnow’s After the Baby Boomers: How Twenty-Somethings Are Shaping the Future of American Religion.   In one section, Wuthnow calls a trend of young adults growing a separation between spirituality and religion as “troubling,” (p. 131).  He says it’s an “explicit rejection of organized religion by people who are still interested somehow…

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  • A politically Conservative, Jewishly liberal person … these and these are both divine.

    Last year (2016-2017), I was teaching a group of high school juniors and seniors in a Reform congregation.  The teens really wanted to talk about the election (pre and post) and all of the platform issues shaping the discourse in the country.  One teen, who was very active in the NFTY youth chapter at the…

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  • Re-Visioning the Jewish “Coming of Age” with post-B/M teens

    I can’t remember how long ago I came to the conclusion that the Jewish community was doing itself a disservice by continuing to celebrate Jewish adulthood at the age of 12/13, however it is something I am quite passionate about.  I have blogged about this previously (At what age are we ready to CHOOSE Judaism? and…

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  • Is “Passover Break” for Day School Families a “Break from Judaism”?

    I dread Passover every year. In 2010, I wrote a blog about it in which I said: I hate Pesach. I think it is a true experiential learning opportunity (and not just the Seder) … but I face the cleaning, the changing of dishes, the cooking, the family tension around the Seder table, the week…

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  • Colbert and Mark Feuerstein Unleash my Pet Peeve

    I was watching Colbert and the Late Show the other night and he had on actor Mark Feuerstein (check him out on IMDB) as a guest.  I’ve been a long-time fan of MF’s – going back to Caroline in the City but not a “serious fan” in that I don’t watch everything he is in. …

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  • Zeh Lo Pashut – This is Not Simple

    It’s rare that I am become tongue-tied and inarticulate, but I have spent the last seven days trying to figure out the most poignant way to communicate this message. As it turns out, the only way is to just say it: I have been diagnosed with clinical moderate depression. It is a new diagnosis as…

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  • Will the real anti-Semite please stand up?

    When I opened my eJewishPhilanthropy this morning, I scanned all of the snippets and headlines as I do each morning.  Typically, I make a mental note of what articles I want to come back to later in the day, but today, one snippet not only caught my eye, but stopped my heart:So, I clicked on…

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  • Paying it Forward

    Over the past few months, I have been asked by many young professionals in the Jewish communal field to provide them career advice. Some have been in the field for 2-5 years, others are just graduating from a Bachelor’s or Master’s program. They have asked questions about degrees they should pursue (yes, get a Master’s…

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  • The B’nei Mitzvah Evolution/Revolution/Ban Debate

    Every once in a while, a celebrity or politician gets misquoted or a sound byte is used out of context and ripples begin to infiltrate that person’s career for a while until it all gets cleared up.  While I am not a celebrity, I was recently mis-represented in Patrick Aleph’s Blog on Kveller.com entitled “Ban…

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