August 18, 2023 Today is Rosh Chodesh Elul, the beginning of the final month of the Jewish Year. I hope you had a chance to read Cantor Julia’s meaningful reflection on Elul and the Holy Days (it went out yesterday). She writes beautifully about the “process and… practice of touching, … READ MORE

July 28, 2023   “A Loss for Everyone”   There’s a famous poem by the iconic Israeli poet Yehudah Amichai, called “The Place Where We Are Right”:   From the place where we are right Flowers will never grow In the spring.   The place where we are right Is … READ MORE

May 19, 2023   A short word about Wednesday’s NightShul presentation Shavu’ot Services A remembrance of Ben Schaeffer   Looking at the calendar, it wasn’t that long ago that I visited Israel on the exceptional UJA-Federation mission in March. But “news time” moves much faster in Israel lately, and so … READ MORE

May 12, 2023   This past Wednesday, we had a presentation from Founder and President of the Center for Peace Communications (and EMJC member) Joseph Braude. The Center for Peace Communications, a New York-based non-profit, works to “roll back divisive ideologies and foster a mindset of inclusion and engagement” in … READ MORE

May 5, 2023   Today we celebrate a minor Jewish holiday called Pesach Sheni – “second Passover.” The roots of the holiday are Biblical – a group of Israelites are unable to partake of the Passover sacrifice because they have come into contact with a corpse (and hence are “unclean”). … READ MORE

A Weekly Message from Rabbi Sam Levine   This coming week, we will observe Israeli Memorial Day and Israeli Independence Day. Memorial Day is perhaps the most solemn day on the Israeli calendar – it is a time for remembering fallen IDF soldiers and those who were lost to acts … READ MORE

The Israeli Holidays at EMJC   The two weeks that follow Passover are a time of deep reflection in Israel and throughout the Jewish world. This coming week, we commemorate the Holocaust on Yom HaShoah v’haG’vurah – Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day. The following week, on Tuesday, we observe Yom … READ MORE

Email 3.24   My intensive UJA Federation Mission to Israel ended on Thursday night. I spent Shabbat in the Galil with old friends and headed back to Jerusalem on Sunday afternoon. I discovered that some friends from Toronto happened to be in Israel for a bat mitzvah, and so I … READ MORE

March 17, 2023   Shabbat shalom from Israel.   As many of you are aware, I have been in Israel this past week with a UJA Federation-sponsored “mission to Israel,” along with 23 other New York-area rabbis. We arrived late Monday afternoon and parted ways last night. The ostensible purpose … READ MORE

March 10, 2023   As most of you know by now, I am headed to Israel (please God, as they say) on Sunday night on a consolation-prize mission to Israel with UJA-Federation. As I have mentioned in several venues, I think the purpose of the trip is to demonstrate to … READ MORE