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A few months ago, I took a quick trip to see my oldest child, Gabriella, who lives in Washington, D.C. about a 10-minute walk from the White House. On my last day there, Gabi was working from home, and we decided to do a DoorDash brunch before I had to leave for the airport. No sooner had I placed the order than Gabi said, ‘WAIT!’ ‘Cancel the order—we can’t do DoorDash, they will arrest our…

When my kids were in BJE preschool many years ago, they had a Passover assembly for parents and extended family. At the assembly, they played the song “Out of Egypt to Be Free,” and along with the song, the kids marched. Eventually, they were to cross through the fake Red Sea towards the promised land. The kids, playing the role of the escaped slaves, carried bags, little backpacks, and they were…

A wife is concerned that her husband is losing his hearing. She decides to test him, but she doesn’t want to hurt his feelings. One evening, while he is in the kitchen preparing dinner, she stands about 30 feet behind him in the living room and asks, “Honey, what are we having for dinner tonight?” No answer. She moves closer and asks again, a little louder, “Honey, what’s for dinner…

I have never talked or heard about toilet paper so much in my life. I have also not been to as many grocery stores.

I am saying out loud now: I. Have. Enough.

We are living in a stressful time; of course, my mind is telling me that I need more, this is a natural reaction to stress, fear, uncertainty, and challenge. “I need more!” My mind tells me. I need More time More money More control More…

Some thoughts I sent today to Congregation Beth Am – Buffalo Grove, IL.

These are times of considerable uncertainty and anxiety. I am feeling it myself; actually, that is, when I don’t ‘catch’ myself and remember to breathe and to take it easy. It is not so easy to do, I know. I was in Costco (with the rest of the world) yesterday, lines were a block long, and it felt surreal: I could not…

Suing the Nazis: A Rosh HaShanah Sermon

In my early twenties, I dreamt a version of the following dream many times:  I was a young adult in a Nazi concentration camp, and I was trying to save young children and babies from extermination. The dreams always ended before I found out whether I lived to tell the story or if I perished with the ones I was trying to rescue or even if I was able to save anyone. Of those nightmares, I only…

A staycation is code for not spending a lot of money.  A staycation is a code for staying in the cold and snowy, damp and dark  Chicago winter instead of soaking in the warmth of the ocean and eating tacos at the condo in PV.  A staycation is code for we will all be home together. All. Home. Together. A staycation is a code which says to the teenagers in the house ‘there are no time-limits on…

Here is a sermon I delivered Friday night November 2nd,  one week after eleven Jews were murdered at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh on Shabbat Morning.  The sermon was delivered from an outline, written-out a touch more fully here.  

The Lord Is Close to the Broken Hearted (Psalm 34:19)

It is with sadness that we come together on this Shabbat. It was supposed to be a November…

Chol Ha Mo’ed Sukkot Sermon offered at Congregation Beth Am,  September 28, 2018

I want to share about this momentous time we are in  our Country.  We are at a crossroads.  Never before has there been a supreme court justice elected into the lifetime position along party lines.  To my knowledge, we have not seen or heard the partisan politics, the animosity, the lies, the campaigning, the crying,…

Do Not Despair: A Yom Kippur Sermon

  There is cable news station that is often on in my house, or on my Sirius XM radio in the car… until someone tells me to turn it off. I don’t have a lot of time to listen or watch the news, but over the course of the last few years, I have almost obsessively turned on this station whenever I can.  It is actually problematic because the news often puts in a despair.

This has been a difficult…

Kol Nidre: You Have Permission

[To the tune of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood theme song] It’s a beautiful eve in the sanctuary, a solemnly evening in the synagogue. I’m glad you’re here, I’m glad to share, this holy day with you.

I was 36 years old when Mr. Rogers died. I hadn’t watched him in decades, but I did think of his loving messages from time to time, especially when Kyle and I were talking about raising our own family.  I…

Why I joined The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival

On a hot summer August day in 1966, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stepped out of his car and was greeted by a mob of 700 angry white protesters in Marquette Park on Chicago’s southwest side. Shortly after he stepped forward to greet that mob, he was pelted with a rock on the side of the head, the force strong enough to bring him to the ground. Undeterred, Dr. King rose up and continued his…

What an incredible pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  For most of us, visiting Israel has been on our minds and in our hearts for a very long time.  We arrived.  We climbed mountains (and tons of stairs!), walked on 2000-year-old streets,  said prayers at the Kotel, the Western Wall, saw calm where there was once war. We learned about the complexities of a small land that so many of different beliefs, opinions, actions and traditions treasure and love with all their hearts and souls. Together we heard about the struggles for freedom.  We laughed a lot and also cried. We began each day on the bus together with the blessing Modeh/Modah Ani…Thank you God for a new day, with love and compassion You give us this day. You have with great faith in us and we, You.

What a blessing this trip has been.  We are all so very grateful.

On the short bus ride to Yad VaShem (The Jewish People’s living memorial to the Holocaust), Lana asked us to imagine a room that would fit 100 people, then think of a space that holds 500 people, a 1000 people and maybe you have even been to a football game where 150,000 were in attendance, keep going and see if you can imagine a space that would hold 1,000,000 and then 6 million.  It is…

Then we headed to Machne Yehuda–the fruit, vegetable, nuts, halva, and anything else you want or need  market and where Nathan was happy to have a chance to put on Tefillin.  Lucy was proud to tell this Hasidic gentleman that she had her Bat mitzvah with her brother but does not want to wear tefillin….

After lunch at the very crowded market we made our way back to the hotel and then off to share Shabbat with a reform congregation, Kamatz. Our tour guide Lana is on the Board of Director’s and her congregation and Rabbi Alona Nir warmly welcomed us into their beautiful sacred home.  They are a special community, and I loved praying with them.  They explain on their website:

“A Reform Jewish presence is crucial for the future of Israel. Between a fully secular Israel completely detached from its religious roots and values, and an uncompromising Halachic state, lies a middle ground, a third way- an Israel rooted in the prophetic Jewish values of social justice, equal rights, compassion, pluralism, and tolerance. This is our Jewish and Zionist vision.

Our egalitarian, upbeat and joyous services create the sacred moments necessary to balance the tensions inherent in Israeli life and offer you, our friends and partners from around the world, a home away from home whenever you are visiting Israel.”  I hope you will visit them.

Lana introducing us to her community.

Dinner was back at the hotel with two lone soldiers (IDF soldiers who do not have family in Israel) and then to sleep.  Today was spent with dear Israeli friends whom I have known for close to 35 years!  And finally, tonight was another fun evening.  We walked to downtown Jerusalem and on Ben Yehuda Street ran into two of Beth Am’s finest, Simon, now a rabbi who is also visiting Israel and Erin a 1st-year HUC student living in Jerusalem for the year.  Pride and Joy!!  And still, we met others we know too.  It has been a wonderful two days.  Feeling so fortunate.

Shavua Tov! To a good week!

Connection, fear, bewilderment, awe, tears, prayers, disbelief, faith… Jerusalem…the City of Peace is hardly a city of peace.

Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem. And then go and work for it.

Today…a most remarkable day.

Blessings from Jerusalem.

“When we fight against the monopoly, we are actually liberating Judaism for all Israelis and since this is the fastest growing Jewish community on the Planet, it is a worthwhile fight.”  Anat Hoffman speaking to our Beth Am Tour this evening. After a beautiful morning looking at hundreds of thousands of cranes and over 400 bird species at the Hula Nature Reserve–a most important wet habitat in…