Keshet in Boston put together this incredible list of Jewish community endorsers of this important anti-bullying pledge for Jewish communal institutions and individuals. Can you take the pledge? I have and Kol Ami has and the Reform Movement has; the Conservative movement, the Reconstructionists and so many more. Please join this wave. Sign by clicking…Read more »
Author: rabbieger
Jobs Jobs Jobs
So where are the jobs? The economy is supposed to be getting better. They tell me jobless claims are down. Read this. Wall Street reacts positively to this news. But does that really mean more people are working? Or does it mean that more people just fell off the rolls? They have maxed out and…Read more »
Rick Sanchez and Hate Speech
So Rick Sanchez is gone. Thank you Time Warner and CNN for quickly removing such a hate monger from the air waves. Sanchez in an interview on Sirius radio on the “StandUp with Pete Dominick Show ” made Anti-Jewish comments. He repeated old Jew-baiting hatred of control of the media and Wall Street. He called…Read more »
Still In Shock
I guess I am still in shock about Tyler Clementi. Or I am In shock that two fellow college students would violate another person’s privacy so much. Two roommates at Rutgers evidently filmed his sexual encounter, bragged about it on Twitter and webcast it. Social Networking gone mad. In this weekend of the movie premier…Read more »
Gay Teens and Suicide–is it Murder?
Suicide in Judaism is forbidden. It violates one of the most important principles therefore choose Life. I wrote about this idea in my Yom Kippur Morning Sermon. Choosing life ought to inform our decision-making. And Suicide violates that principle. As does murder. All suicide is tragic but the four gay young people who committed suicide in…Read more »
A Beginning of Beginnings
Parshat Bereshit Genesis 1:1 – 6:9 We begin again. The cycle of reading the Torah begins again. Simchat Torah, the holiday of rejoicing in the Torah that ends Sukkot and the flurry of holy days of Tishrei is the time we end and begin the cycle of reading our most sacred literature, the Torah over…Read more »
Judaism and Social Networking
Read this cover story in the Jewish Journal about the influence of Social Networking and media. I am quoted in the article. But more importantly it raises some really good questions and concerns about Jewish values in this new reality. How does Shabbat work? Can there be an electronic sabbatical? Does open wi-fi relate to…Read more »
Bishop Long, GLBT, and Bishop Pearson
In recent days Bishop Eddie Long, the African-American pastor of a mega-church has faced allegations of sexual harassment by male parishioners. He has been accused of using his pulpit to influence young men. This from a preacher who has been consistently against same-sex marriage and has condemned gays and lesbians from the pulpit. Bishop Long has denied the allegations and…Read more »
Please read my guest blog
Please read my guest blog post on Karen Ocamb’s wonderful blog LGBT POV. It is about my recent meeting with Los Angeles’ new Roman Catholic Archbishop Jose Gomez. He will take over the L. A. diocese from Cardinal Mahoney upon Mahoney’s retirement at age 75 at the end of February 2011.
Take Our Jobs says Colbert
Stephen Colbert testified before Congress last week about his experience as a farm worker as part of the United Farm Worker’s “Take Our Job Program”. In usual Colbert style he brought humor and light to a very serious subject. All too often those especially who are conservatives make the charge that immigrant farm workers are “stealing…Read more »