From the Rabbi's Desk

Saturday night will mark the second 15th of Nissan and thus the second time the Jewish people have observed פסח/Passover with members of our people in captivity. It’s the second time members of our people are not free. It’s on פסח that we celebrate the gift of freedom. It’s absurd that in the year 2025 there are people who are enslaved and being held against their will. Freedom is such a simple thing, yet it’s being withheld...Read more...

We are working our way towards Passover. I love this time of year when we begin to clean and prepare for this incredible holiday. As I may have told you, I have an extensive collection of Haggadahs. I used to buy no fewer than five a year to build it up to make sure I always had new material. In recent years, I’ve seen fewer new ones being published so I’ve slowed down.

A few years back I purchased The Koren Ethiopian Haggada...Read more...

What are our secret identities? How are we hidden? What are the parts of our personas we don’t let others see? Since the dawn of modernity, Jews have been confronted with a debate over who they are since they had the ability to “pass” and be part of the majority culture around them. This wouldn’t actually end up working out (the Dreyfus Affair in France, Leo Frank’s lynching in America and of course Germany from 1933 – 1945) but...Read more...