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By Rabbi Jacob Elisha Fine, Hillel at the University of Washington One of the occupational hazards of being a rabbi is that self-identified atheists seem to have a habit of making sure you know that they don’t believe in God. Never mind theorizing the impetuses for such self-disclosures, I haveContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Jonathan Singer, Temple Beth Am When I was growing up, my sister loved to share with me the well-known Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times!” I understood right away why living in too interesting times is a curse — far better is it to live inContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Seth Goldstein, Temple Beth Hatfiloh Over the past month I have watched with horror as one of the largest environmental disasters unfolds before our eyes. Every day for the past few weeks the news of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico continues to get worse andContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Moshe Kletenik, Bikur Cholim-Machzikay Hadath Congregation That hundreds of rabbis came to the Rabbinical Council of America’s annual convention is not unusual. That they came knowing that the long-anticipated resolution on ordination of women as rabbis and on the role of women in Orthodox communal life was beingContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Olivier BenHaim, Bet Alef Meditative Synagogue As my first name suggests, I was born in France. The France I grew up in offered only one Jewish denomination, one form of practicing Judaism: Orthodoxy. For French Jews like my parents, practicing Judaism was virtually an all-or-nothing endeavor. My parentsContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Rob Toren, Samis Foundation I received in my e-mail inbox a link to a fascinating YouTube video: A violinist playing at a subway station in a Washington, D.C. Metro stop. What was interesting was that this was somewhat of an experiment or, more accurately, a “gentleman’s wager” (anContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Anson Laytner, Congregation Kol HaNeshamah I’ve heard it now from three different congregations: “Rabbi, how can we talk about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in our community? Everyone has such strong opinions that we fear a conversation on this topic would be too divisive. Yet it seems to us thatContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Harry Zeitlin, Congregation Beth Ha’Ari We exist to be loved because the dominant “flavor” of God is love — it must be dynamic and flow in order to flower. And while there is almost nothing our finite minds can truly grasp of His infinite nature, we do knowContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Beth J. Singer, Temple Beth Am Some days while driving to a downtown meeting or hospital, I listen to KTTH-AM 770, “The Truth” “˜— Seattle radio’s offering of conservative talk show hosts such as Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura Schlesinger, and Michael Medved. Other days I tune into Seattle’sContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Jaron B. Matlow, Shalom Aleichem. I am the “New guy in town,” so I want to introduce myself. I am a retired Navy officer and disabled veteran. After I retired from the Navy in January 2001, I attended Gratz College near Philadelphia to study Jewish Studies and JewishContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky, Chai Center of Greater Seattle Your list of wishes and hopes for the coming year are probably exactly the same as mine. No doubt high on that list are the important “big ones:” Peace in Israel and the world at large, financial stability, safety in ourContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Bruce Kadden, Temple Beth El, Tacoma Like most rabbis, I often speak to non-Jewish groups who want to learn more about Judaism. One of the most common questions I get is: “What do Jews believe about Jesus?” Although most Christians understand that we do not believe he wasContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Josh Hearshen, It seems that only yesterday we were all standing in our synagogues awaiting the final tekiyah of the High Holy Days and looking forward to speeding off to our break-fast meals. It is incredible how quickly our days go by, and how quickly we pass throughContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Jessica Marshall, Temple Beth Or Lying in bed, the soft dawn light peeking in through my curtains, still in that state between being asleep and awake, I listen to the sound of softly falling rain. My visions of a morning run in the sunlight foiled again. As aContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Chaim Levine, LivingJudaism The problem with trying to find the solution to the current economic instability is that the answer has nothing to do with money. The solution is this: We are Blessed. Beyond imagination. How could this be the answer? Aside from the fact that it isContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Daniel Weiner, Temple De Hirsch Sinai One of the most memorable scenes in Judd Apatow’s morality tale of male maturation, Knocked Up, is a brief barroom discussion of the film Munich. The mostly Jewish characters celebrate the “turning on its head” of the stereotypical role of Jew asContinue Reading

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By Rabbi Yechezkel Kornfeld , Congregation Shevet Achim Everything in Judaism is both constant and unique. The reason for this seeming paradox is that Torah is our life. Just as we want our life to be constant and also unique, the same applies to our Torah behavior. The New YearContinue Reading