Balaclava-clad far-right paramilitaries fire into the air at the funeral in Ukraine of an anti-government protestor. This is not a tribute to a fellow right-wing nationalist, but to a Jewish construction worker, Alexander Scherbanyuk. Of the approximately 100 people killed during the protests in Kiev that swept Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich from power in February,…
Through his social media channels and open congregation in California, Rabbi Fink regularly dismantles the image of a stern, judgmental Orthodox rabbi with no interest in open dialogue or transcending religious and cultural barriers. He writes on the most pressing issues facing the Jewish community, and maintains an atmosphere of mutual respect, unabashed honesty and…
I nearly died in the mid-’90s and urgently needed to feel the sense of spiritual belonging that community prayer affords. Yet, my profound exhaustion and seizures made it impossible to attend my own temple. I would be homebound for years. At some point, I contacted what is now the Union for Reform Judaism and spoke…
Rabbi Greenwald — or R’Adam, as I call him — is, in fact, completely rad. I got to know him as a student in his “Intro to Judaism” program, and he has become an invaluable mentor. He has the ability to teach a diverse roomful of students (ranging from “What’s a Jew?” to “My dad…
David and his wife, Cantor Rollin Simmons, came to Aspen just three years ago and have transformed a struggling and largely dormant small congregation into a major force promoting Jewish life and involvement in the Roaring Fork Valley. He has proven an inspiration to young families in the region, as well as to the older…
A founder of the innovative SAR High School in New York City and a powerful advocate for open and engaged Orthodox Judaism, Rabbi Naftali Harcsztark has taken a risk in allowing women students to wear tefillin. He has not only created a first-rate school, but one that embodies what is best about Orthodoxy, without being…
Rabbi Herschel Hartz is one of the most extraordinary individuals I have ever crossed paths with. Over the past year, Rabbi Hartz has worked tirelessly to single-handedly resurrect the latent Jewish community of Inwood, Manhattan. He approaches his work with both a sweet love for all Jews and a fiery devotion that comes at the…
Rabbi Marc has shared his enthusiasm for making ethical, local, organic food available in Boulder by participating in the Boulder Tuv Ha’Aretz CSA, the chicken/goat co-op; hanging out at the farmers market, and through the Hazon Colorado Food Conference. His drashes have made the whole community more aware of their food and general consumption of…
My family moved to a small, rural part of Maine 10 years ago, and we immediately joined the 100-year-old Beth Israel Congregation, but our membership was dwindling. We were aware that soon our beloved doors might no longer be open. Then I received a call: If we acted quickly, we just might get accepted into…
On a recent Shabbat afternoon, in the shadow of disappointment surrounding the thwarted gun reform legislation, a group of concerned locals gathered on Red Bud Avenue, a street in St. Louis notorious for gun violence. They stood together by the middle school and the corner grocery and somberly named each of the 46 children who…
I met Rabbi Klatzko about four years ago in Phoenix, Arizona, when he was in town giving a class on Judaism to a bunch of us college kids. Before he left, he had us all write down our email so he could create accounts for us on his new website, called Shabbat.com. I never bothered…
