In an on g0ing effort to talk about unwritten Jewish culture and tradition I want to spend a few moments on Funerals. This week at the PARR conference I co-led a discussion with Sinai Memorial Park and Mortuary General Manager Len Lawrence on the changing customs of Jewish burial and funeral practice.  It was a…Read more »

Parshat Bo Exodus  10:1- 13:16   With this week’s Torah portion Bo the last of the plagues are inflicted upon Egypt. These signs and wonders are terror for Egypt but miracles of deliverance for the Hebrew slaves. It is always a matter of perspective. The only thing that protects the Israelites from the final terror…Read more »

Sadly today is the last day of our Rabbinic Conference for the Pacific Region.  It has been a wonderful week of learning. We have been thinking about new ways to define and redefine Jewish connections, life, the Reform Movement as well as build a relationship with Israel.  Our Scholar, Dr. Rabbi Michael Marmur, Provost of…Read more »

One of the things that I love about being in Palm Springs for the Rabbis convention is the wonderful sense of community.   Even though we often don’t see one another for months at a stretch or even years at a stretch, there is an immediate kinship and friendship that happens.  The PARR conference is…Read more »

Beginning today and for the week I will be attending the Pacific Association of Reform Rabbis Conference.  I had the privilege of serving as President of PARR. I am just a regular member now.  This is a New Year’s tradition.  The first week in January for over 80 years the West Coast Reform Rabbis gather…Read more »

Happy New Year.  Here’s to a great 2011!!!! As we reflect on the New Year and look back at the year that was. Whew…2010 what a whirlwind.  Here is my top ten list of important Jewish stories for the year.  What are yours? 1. The Carmel Fire destroyed 1000’s of acres and more than 3…Read more »

According to the L.A. County Human Relations Commission, anti-Semitic hate crimes historically make up the largest number of reported hate crimes every year and via Report Shows Rise in Hate Crimes Against Jews. Please see this article where I am quoted extensively.  It is an important report.

Did you vote?  Don’t forget to vote for my blog and Kol Ami’s Twitter feed at the Union for Reform Judaism Techie Award website.  These are the first ever awards for social media use in synagogues!!! If you read my blog regularly (this is my personal blog)  or follow kolamila on Twitter or even if…Read more »

It has happened.  The city is crippled.  I have been officially told who knows when service will be repaired.   Mercury is in retrograde until tomorrow.  But the communications havoc at ATT on the main lines in Los Angeles will go on long after Mercury, the planet that plays communication havoc in astrology, goes direct.…Read more »

As we approach the last week of 2010 I think a lot about the state of our world.  With 2011 bearing down next Shabbat I remember we have completed the first decade of the 21st century. WHEW!  What a whirlwind.  We ushered in the year 2000 with worries about Y2K computer glitches and worries that…Read more »