This Passover we can honor the tenacity of Miriam, the agency and pain of Yocheved and the commitment of Batya — women whose efforts helped lead us out of Egypt. After all, we owe them. Though they were pivotal to Moses in his efforts to shepherd our people out of bondage, these figures are given…
The works of Yiddish writer and satirist Moyshe Nadir in English translation are gaining a wider audience these days. The newest addition to this growing collection is Nadir’s acerbic comic play “Messiah in America,” translated by Michael Shapiro and published by Farlag. The Yiddish word farlag actually means publishing house. Both the selection of the…
Like many Jews I know, I experienced the election of Donald Trump to the highest office in the country as a wake up call. Once a-political, I’ve spent the last two years in a fury of activism. But it hasn’t pleased everyone. In addition to the Trump supporters in my community, I recently got some…
This Rosh Hashana, Rabbi Adam Spilker delivered what he said was his strongest sermon ever as a spiritual leader. His congregation, a veteran Reform synagogue of more than 600 families in Minnesota, had recently signed on to a new campaign organized the Reform movement to ramp up political and social activism amidst the culture wars…
On December 5, 23-year-old Canadian adult film star August Ames (born Mercedes Grabowski) hanged herself in a public park after a day of being viciously attacked on Twitter. While Ames had battled depression and did not mention the online bullying in her suicide note, it likely played a role: Ames’s final tweet, hours before her…
As a congregational rabbi and lay leader, we have found that congregants who are resistant to their synagogue working for change in their community often claim that political issues don’t belong in the synagogue. They maintain that synagogues are there to help Jews, not the larger community. Board members raise the possibility of the synagogue…
When the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism recently announced its rebranding, affirming Conservative Judaism as “dynamic and authentic,” it had the potential to be a turning point for the movement. Its earlier tagline, “tradition and change,” not only was uninspiring, but also failed to capture the very humanity of our people’s search for meaning and…
The aftermath of the deadly white supremacist violence at the “Unite the Right” march in Charlottesville over the weekend has left marginalized communities across the country traumatized. It has also resurfaced long simmering debates on racial justice brought to a head in the Trump era. The stated reason for the rally, a protest of the…
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