Climates shape identity. The harsh Minnesota winters and high-altitude Colorado summers of my youth, the heat of my college semester in West Africa, and the transitions from season to season in my current home in Westchester each played a role forming my identity.
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The Jewish coming-of-age ceremony known as a bar mitzvah is always challenging. It happens at the awkward age of the early teen years, and requires the child to chant, before family, friends and congregation, from the archaic Hebrew of the Torah. For Amichai Lau-Lavie, the Israeli-born scion of an Eastern European rabbinical dynasty, it was …
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As the festival of Shavuot approaches, I am reflecting back on the revelatory experiences in my life. This past spring, I was so frantically busy that it wasn’t until I slowed down that I realized I was having an experience that was changing me in a profound way. I know I’m not the only one …
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Rabbi Elie spitz of Congregation B’nai Israel in Tustin, was selected by the American Jewish World Service as one of fourteen rabbis and cantors from across the United States as the 2017 class of Global Justice Fellows. This program educates and trains American Jewish leaders to advocate effectively as Jews in support of international polices …
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Jewish organizations, along with other faith-based and secular social justice organizations, have been ablaze with statements and action alerts during the early stages of the Trump Administration. Efforts began soon after the November election, with some Jewish groups condemning Stephen Bannon’s appointment to Chief White House Strategist and Senior Counselor. Statements have proliferated in recent …
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