Dear Friends: This Shabbat marks the 40th anniversary of my rabbinic ordination according to the Hebrew calendar. According to the Gregorian calendar it was June 7, 1986 but on the Hebrew calendar it was the same date as tomorrow, 29 Iyar, and we read the same Torah portion, Bamidbar, and the same Haftarah, Machar Chodesh. While it’s not typical to hold a rabbinic ordination on Shabbat, there is nothing to prohibit it either, and the Cincinnati campus of Hebrew Union College

Dear Friends: A few updates: 1.) Later today I will be joining other area Conservative rabbis to meet with two of our Israeli colleagues from the Masorti Movement, the Israeli counterpart of our Conservative Movement (the word “Masorti” means Traditional). Rabbi Doron Rubin is the CEO of the Masorti Movement and Rabbi Mikie Goldstein is the Director of Resource Development. (Rabbi Goldstein also holds the distinction of being the first gay rabbi ordained by the Schechter Rabb

Dear Friends: We sometimes forget how rapidly means of communication have changed in our world. Here’s an interesting statistic for you to ponder: in 1994, half of the world’s population had never made a telephone call. Fifteen years later, in 2009, there were 3.3. billion mobile phone subscribers out of a total world population of five billion. Within the last few weeks I appeared in two different types of new media but in both cases the appearances were to some extent produ

Dear Friends: In one of my talks over Pesach I discussed the “real” reason for a fifth cup of wine -- one which we fill but do not drink -- at the Passover Seder and why it is called the Cup of Elijah. We have four cups because there are four phrases or promises of redemption in Exodus 6:6-7. God says “I will free you”, “deliver you”, “redeem you”, and “take you.” Then in verse 6:8 God says “I will bring you into the Land” of Canaan. The question which is debated in the Talmu

Dear Friends: This past Wednesday in place of a more formal sermon we studied a text from the Talmud tractate Pesachim. Briefly, the question arose as to what would happen if the 14th of Nisan, when the Paschal sacrifice was slaughtered, fell on Shabbat. Certain rituals override Shabbat (for example, if the eighth day of a baby boy’s life is Shabbat, the bris is still held that day) while others are moved because of Shabbat (if the 9th of Av falls on Shabbat, the fast is hel

Dear Friends: Since next Friday, April 3, is the second day of Pesach, I won’t be posting a “Rabbi’s Update” that day. In the class I am teaching on Pirkei Avot, we have been looking at materials which deal with how judges and courts should conduct themselves. For example, a court should always consist of three judges (because we learn and understand best through discussion with others who may see something that we miss, and so that there not be a tie when the judges come to

Dear Friends: There is a famous Israeli saying מה שרואים מכאן לא רואים משם ( mah she-roeem mi-kan lo roeem mi-sham, “what is seen from here is not what is seen from there”) which might be considered the Israeli version of “where you stand depends on where you sit.” Through the miracle of the Internet and of cellphone apps, I listen to the Israeli radio station Reshet Gimmel most Friday mornings. Reshet Gimmel calls itself “the home of Israeli music” and on Friday mornings he

Dear Friends: As you surely know, yet another synagogue attack took place yesterday in West Bloomfield, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. Temple Israel, the site of the attack, states that it is the largest Reform synagogue in the United States. Fortunately, the only person who was killed was the attacker, a naturalized American citizen originally from Lebanon, who drove his truck through the doors, into the building, and down a hall. A fire started in the building -- news repo

Dear Friends: Our Purim celebration this past Monday night, which unexpectedly took place with both the United States and Israel at war with Iran (aka ancient Persia) was nevertheless lovely and well-attended. Thanks to Hazzan Komrad, Michael Sheib, and Jacob Sheib who chanted from the Megillah along with me; to Tom and Linda Loggie for refreshments after services; and to Linda Loggie and Wendy Schneider-Levinson for baking hamantashen. If I have omitted anyone, please accept

Dear Friends: The holiday of Purim is this coming Monday night and Tuesday. Hazzan Komrad and I will be leading our service and celebration in the Sanctuary beginning at 7 pm. The service will be on Zoom as well but of course if you can make it in person you are encouraged to do so. Please enter via the wooden Sanctuary doors rather than the glass doors by the office. Security will be present so please either bring your blue laminated Kehilat Shalom member card or remember th

Dear Friends: My grandfather, after whom I was named, was literally Hymie from Hymietown. When he was born in Ilya, Belarus, he was given the name Chaim Leib, but when his family came to the United States his first name was Anglicized to “Hyman” and he was known by the nickname “Hymie.” And like many Jewish immigrants of that era (he came to the United States in 1910 at age 17) he lived from his arrival in the US until his death in New York City -- which is also where he is b

Dear Friends: Item: On Tuesday morning of this week, antisemitic graffiti was discovered at Shaare Tefila synagogue in Olney. The main sign of the shul was spray painted with a swastika and “AZAB.” Two other signs, one expressing support for Israel and one which says “Hate Has No Home Here” (the same sign I have in front of my house) were also spray painted with “AZAB.” “AZAB” reportedly stands for “All Zionists Are Bastards.” Remember that a synagogue was vandalized with th

Dear Friends: Tomorrow morning we read Parashat Yitro which contains, among other things, the revelation at Sinai. Over the years Keleigh and I have often, though not always, sponsored a kiddush on the Shabbat of Parashat Yitro because it was not only my Bar Mitzvah reading but my father’s as well. I discovered a few years ago that in an interesting quirk of the relationship between the Hebrew and Gregorian calendars, my father’s birthday is exactly a week earlier than mine o

Dear Friends: News Flash: it’s cold. Really cold, Really, really cold -- water pipes bursting cold, frost bite-inducing cold. Having said that, some years ago Keleigh and I spent a few days in Saskatoon, Canada, where it is routinely this cold or colder. A number of Saskatooners said to us: “there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.” Last Shabbat we held services on Zoom only. This Shabbat we are going back to our usual hybrid format and the Sanctuary will be

Dear Friends: The Conservative Movement made news in recent weeks with the report of the “Joint Intermarriage Working Group” -- “joint” because it had members from the Rabbinical Assembly, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, and the Cantors’ Assembly. You can read the report here. The Executive Summary of the report is here. The report can appear self-contradictory in that it on the one hand maintains the ban on Conservative rabbis and cantors officiating at marria

Dear Friends: There have been two significant antisemitic acts of vandalism against synagogues this past week. Early Shabbat morning, arson caused considerable damage to Beth Israel Congregation’s building in Jackson, Mississippi. The temple’s library and administrative offices were left as charred ruins, two Torah scrolls were destroyed and five more damaged by smoke and water. Beth Israel is the only synagogue in Jackson, the state’s largest city, and was founded in 1860. I

Dear Friends: This week we begin reading Sefer Shemot , the Book of Exodus. The story of the Exodus is the beginning of our people’s foundational story, but it has also inspired people throughout history and in many places to resist the Pharaohs of their era. The first act of resistance in Exodus was that of the midwives, Shifra and Puah, who had the courage to defy Pharaoh’s immoral decree even though it was the law of the land. If they had complied, if they had thrown up th

Dear Friends: I did not teach our Thursday night Adult Education last night or the week before, which were January 1 and December 25, respectively. At some point during the past week I was asked if there would have been a halachic problem with holding our Adult Education class on December 25. I understood this to be a question asked out of curiosity and a sincere desire to learn and not as a challenge in any way. To be sure there is no halachic issue of holding Torah study cl

Dear Friends: Tomorrow morning I will discuss three different contemporary sources that deal with the question of why Chanukah is eight days. Your automatic response to that question will probably be “because the flask that had enough oil for one day lasted eight” but if there was enough oil for one day, the first day was not really miraculous. Only the next seven days were the product of a miracle and therefore the holiday should really only be seven days. Rabbi Laura Geller

Dear Friends: Chanukah is supposed to be a joyous festival but we began Chanukah with so much sadness. In Bondi, Australia (suburban Sydney) two assailants opened fire on a public Chanukah celebration. At least 15 people were killed and dozens more injured. Among those murdered were two Chabad rabbis, a ten year old girl, a Holocaust survivor, and a 27 year old French Jewish IT administrator living and working temporarily in the Sydney area. The Sydney massacre was the worst