24 Tuesday Dec 2019
27 Wednesday Nov 2019
“The people of these United States are the rightful masters of both Congresses and courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.”
-Abraham Lincoln
18 Wednesday Sep 2019
Posted in Ethics, Israel and Palestine, Israel/Zionism, Jewish History, Uncategorized
Israelis remind Netanyahu he’s a mortal politician, not a king. That may save their democracy and any last chance of peace.
By Roger Cohen – NY Times Op-ed, September 18, 2019
“He was desperate and he has come up short. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bared his inner being in the run-up to the Israeli election — promising to annex much of the West Bank, inciting hatred against Israeli Arabs, railing about plots against him — only to find that Israelis may have had enough.”
Read the entire op-ed – as well-stated as any we will read – here
08 Sunday Sep 2019
We need our rabbis to speak to us as honestly, eloquently, and inspirationally as they can during this season. Doing so, however, is not easy. I hope that all congregants appreciate their rabbi’s efforts whether or not they agree with what their rabbis say.
If your rabbi inspires you to think and reflect deeply – if he/she elevates your spirit and helps you to see the world as if with new eyes – if your rabbi touches you and you feel renewed as a consequence of his/her words – tell them so and offer them your gratitude. They will appreciate that simple gesture more than you can know. They write for you and a good/great sermon is a veritable gift offered from heart to the heart and soul to soul.
For my complete Times of Israel Blog – see https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/be-kind-to-your-rabbi/
02 Thursday May 2019
Posted in Jewish Identity, Uncategorized
18 Thursday Apr 2019
01 Monday Apr 2019
Posted in American Politics and Life, Ethics, Uncategorized
Anyone who knows Congressman Adam Schiff recognizes the quality of the man, his intelligence, dignity, integrity, and seriousness as a public servant. Modest, refined, distinguished, thoughtful, and professional – these are the adjectives that immediately come to mind when I think of him.
See my blog at The Times of Israel – https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/in-defense-of-congressman-adam-schiff-against-an-immoral-president/
25 Monday Mar 2019
Posted in Uncategorized
Rabbi David Teutsch, who shares the co-chairmanship with me and Rabbi Andrea London of the J Street Rabbinic and Cantorial Cabinet, has written an authoritative piece that will appear in the Times of Israel detailing how the extreme right-wing is the greatest anti-Semitic threat and NOT the extreme left wing. Though there are concerns about a growing anti-Israel sentiment on the left, these people are not violent. The right wing is.
David shows us why and is to be complemented.
http://evolve.reconstructingjudaism.org/dangers-antisemitism
22 Friday Mar 2019
For 2-minute video link – https://bit.ly/2YhGB0H
18 Monday Mar 2019
Anyone who supports the right of the Jewish people to a state of our own and calls for a two-states for two people’s resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not an anti-Semite.
Congressman Ilhan Omar has now laid her cards on the table. Her support for the rights of the Jewish people for a state of our own in Israel and the Palestinian people for a state of their own should satisfy doubts we might have had about her position vis a vis the Jewish people and Israel.
Ilhan Omar: We must apply our universal values to all nations. Only then will we achieve peace, Washington Post –
Rep. Ilhan Omar writes, “U.S. support for Israel has a long history. The founding of Israel 70 years ago was built on the Jewish people’s connection to their historical homeland, as well as the urgency of establishing a nation in the wake of the horror of the Holocaust and the centuries of anti-Semitic oppression leading up to it. Many of the founders of Israel were themselves refugees who survived indescribable horrors. We must acknowledge that this is also the historical homeland of Palestinians. And without a state, the Palestinian people live in a state of permanent refugeehood and displacement. This, too, is a refugee crisis, and they, too, deserve freedom and dignity. A balanced, inclusive approach to the conflict recognizes the shared desire for security and freedom of both peoples. I support a two-state solution, with internationally recognized borders, which allows for both Israelis and Palestinians to have their own sanctuaries and self-determination. This has been official bipartisan U.S. policy across two decades and has been supported by each of the most recent Israeli and Palestinian leaders, as well as the consensus of the Israeli security establishment. “
For full article go to https://wapo.st/2ub60vk
