Archive for March, 2010

As of last week, I'm the chairman (well, co-chair actually, along with Rabbi Moshe Yehudai) of Rabbis for Human Rights. On hearing this, some friends have reacted with a little surprise, knowing I have a heavy work and travel schedule.  Like I didn't have enough to do with my "spare time." I accepted, with...
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            On the night of March 29, if previous years are any guide, something truly miraculous will happen.  Something like 93% of all Jews in North America will find their way to a seder, to celebrate Passover together with other Jews.  Religious Jews, secular Jews, Reform, Conservative, Orthodox Jews, Jews who are...
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"  And God called to Moses " Rashi, the medieval rabbinic commentator par excellence, brings two interesting teachings about this phrase, which opens this week's Torah reading: 1) When the Torah says God "called" to someone, it is language of affection, as we see exemplified by Isaiah who quotes the angels "and they called...
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I recently fulfilled a promise I made to myself over four years ago, when I turned 50: I published a book.  Took me about three years longer than I had planned, but what the heck, "better late than never." Those of you who are observant (in the "noticing things sense" not necessarily in the...
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Two weeks ago I found myself in Breckenridge, Colorado for the weekend.  My brother's family rented a ski condo, so we had a "mini family reunion" on the ski slopes.  For the first time I was presented with skiing on Shabbat as a practical question, not just a theoretical question. After thinking about it,...
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Abba Eban famously quipped "The Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity."  Well, we know Arabs are Semites, and Jews are Semites, and apparently the same thing is true for Jews. One of the most recent public controversies is an excellent case in point.  The Israeli government, in what I would consider...
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