Rabbi’s Turn (Page 2)

By Rabbi Shmuel Brody , Ashreichem Yisrael Every once in a while, Seattle gets a visit from Old Jerusalem. An elderly fellow with a white beard, a full smile, and a strained walk, “Uncle Chaim from Yerushalayim” is how he is known. His sweetness and simplicity endears him to usContinue Reading

By Rabbi Will Berkovitz, CEO, Jewish Family Service The tradition tells of a blind man, holding a blazing torch, walking a dark road late one night. A rabbi coming from the other direction recognizes the man as he approaches and asks, “Why do you need a torch? It isn’t goingContinue Reading

By Rabbi Jill Borodin , Congregation Beth Shalom Rabbi Haninah, the son of Papa, says (in the Talmud, Tractate Berachot, page 35b): “Anyone who enjoys anything from this world without a blessing, it is as if they have stolen from God and the community of Israel.” What a statement —Continue Reading

By Rabbi Aaron Meyer , Temple De Hirsch Sinai So named for the little bit of coffee added to a greater quantity of milk, turning the norm on its head, or perhaps for the order in which the ingredients are combined, Cafe Hafuch, upside-down coffee, is the Israeli answer toContinue Reading

By Rabbi Lauren Kurland , Special to JTNews As you may have guessed from the incredibly close proximity of Labor Day and Rosh Hashanah this year, Hanukkah is also coming early — so early, in fact, that rather than coinciding with Christmas, its usual American holiday tango partner, this yearContinue Reading

By Rabbi Jay Rosenbaum , Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation When we had a high school class on Muslim-Jewish dialogue last year, I asked our Herzl-Ner Tamid students to agree or disagree with the following statement: “There will never be peace between Israel and the Palestinians.” Nine of the 10 studentsContinue Reading

By Rabbi Ron-Ami Meyers, Congregation Ezra Bessaroth For most Americans, November means Thanksgiving is just around the corner. This year, in an unusual confluence of the Gregorian and Jewish calendars, Hanukkah falls out on Thanksgiving. According to my sources, it will only happen again in the year 79,811! This year’sContinue Reading

By Rabbi Zari Weiss , Kol HaNeshamah West Seattle’s Progressive Community As I wrote this article, the House and Senate — after 16 days — finally agreed to raise the debt ceiling, narrowly averting a government shutdown. Now talks must begin in earnest to figure out a budget acceptable toContinue Reading

By Rabbi Ben Aaronson , Capitol Hill Minyan You’re late for a meeting. You pull into the parking lot, and it’s entirely full except for one illegal spot right near the entrance. If you park there, you’ll make it to your meeting on time. If you have to find anotherContinue Reading

By Rabbi Joshua Samuels , Congregation Beth Israel, Bellingham In less than a week, we’re going to be in the thick of the High Holy Days. This might not be a time of celebration like Simchat Torah or Purim, but unlike those festivals, the High Holy Days — and especiallyContinue Reading

By Rabbi Sholom Ber Levitin , Regional Director, Chabad of the Pacific Northwest and Rabbi, Congregation Shaarei Tefillah — Lubavitch I’ll begin with three short stories. In June of 1967, I was sitting in the central Chabad Lubavitch Yeshiva at the famous 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, N.Y. At approximatelyContinue Reading

By Rabbi Allison B. Flash , Temple Beth Am Since becoming a rabbi, I have come to believe there really are five seasons to the year. There are the typical four: Fall, winter, spring, and summer, but for rabbis, there is an additional season called “pre-High Holidays.” It is theContinue Reading

By Rabbi Rob Toren, Samis Foundation A waiter approaches a customer to take his order. The customer, thinking aloud, says, “Let’s see. This week is the Nine Days, so I have to eat dairy. I’ll take the fish.” The confused waiter goes back to the kitchen and says to theContinue Reading

By Rabbi Sarah Newmark, Congregation Beth Hatikvah When I tell people I’m a Reconstructionist rabbi, I generally get this response: “I’ve heard of Reconstructionism, but I don’t know anything about it.” Those of us who trained at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College near Philadelphia are used to this. In fact, inContinue Reading

By Rabbi Mark Spiro , LivingJudaism Prior to our arrival in Seattle nearly 10 years ago, we’d heard about the warm, close-knit Jewish community, and in many respects we have not been disappointed. But we’ve also witnessed quite a bit of controversy relating mainly to our schools and synagogues. AtContinue Reading

By Rabbi Seth Goldstein , Temple Beth Hatfiloh Whenever I find myself outside Olympia speaking to a member of a local Jewish community, I will invariably be asked two questions. First, I will be asked, “How many Jews are there in Olympia?” When I respond that we have about 150Continue Reading

By Rabbi Moshe Kletenik , Bikur Cholim Machzikay Hadath On a recent Sunday morning, after morning services and teaching the daily Daf Yomi, the page-of-Talmud-a-day, I was looking forward to an invigorating Pacific Northwest bike ride. A quick weather check confirmed the ominous clouds predicted by weather reports. Not toContinue Reading

By Rabbi Olivier BenHaim, Bet Alef Meditative Synagogue In last week’s Torah portion, we read the universally known affirmation: “V’ahavta l’reacha kamocha — Love your fellow like yourself” (Lev 19:18). But this is not the only time in Torah that we are called to love. In the book of Deuteronomy,Continue Reading

By Rabbi Daniel A. Septimus, Temple De Hirsch Sinai I have a confession to make. It has been several months since I consistently visited Seward Park in the morning, which was a part of my daily routine from the very first moment we arrived in Seattle. The temptations were thereContinue Reading