Tazria and Visiting the Sick

Parshat Tazria Leviticus 12:1-13:59 The next two weeks of Torah portions, Tazria and Metzora are often the most confounding in the Torah.  And certainly the “ick” factor is at work.  These portions deal with ritual impurity from childbirth, menstrual blood, skin diseases or rashes, semen and other bodily fluids.  It describes spiritual impurities that arise…Read more »

Opening Day

It’s here. Opening Day.  The glorious baseball season begins again. 162 days of bats, balls, strikes, diamond grit, and 30 teams pitted against each other. I must admit I feel a little cheated this year.  I didn’t make it to spring training. The usual weekend I go was Purim.  And while that was really fun…Read more »

Rabbis Gather!

I am here in New Orléans at the Central Conference of American Rabbis 122nd Annual Conference.  More than 500 Reform rabbis from around North America, Israel and England have gathered together to study, teach, pray, discuss, envision and imagine Jewish life in the 21st century.  It is always inspiring to be together with those that…Read more »

Mourning Liz

Liz Taylor died last week. On Wednesday.  She was an amazing actress and an won an Academy Award  for both performances in Butterfiled8 and Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf. She was  really responsible for helping bring attention to the AID/HIV issue. She helped found AmFar and her own Elizabeth Taylor Foundation made incredible differences to…Read more »

Squelching weddings

The Ninth Circuit Court could have lived up to its more progressive interpretations of Constitutional Law. But they chickened out.  They refused to lift the stay on California same-gender weddings that they imposed pending a decision in their federal court case. The case known as Perry vs Schwarzenegger was appealed to the Ninth Circuit after…Read more »

Jerusalem bomb blast

My heart aches for Jerusalem.  A bombing attack on Wednesday.  Echoes of the Intifada when bus bombings happened all the time.  Let’s pray this is an isolated event. But with the increase in mortar shells on the Negev and Southern coastal Israel and the interception of a boat on March 16 from Iran with weapons…Read more »

New Leader for URJ: Mazal Tov Rabbi Rick Jacobs

Dynamic, Innovative Congregational Rabbi Tapped to Lead the Union for Reform Judaism Rick Jacobs, of Westchester Reform Temple, welcomed as “once-in-a-generation leader,” “powerhouse,” and “visionary”. Contact: Annette Powers 212-650-4154 | apowers@urj.org March 22, 2011, New York — The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) announced today the recommendation of Rabbi Richard Jacobs for President of the organization,…Read more »