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Support our Elders

Americans are facing a crisis of aging. While retirement is often romanticized, the reality is that many will not have the resources or support they need in their later years. Jewish tradition offers a moral and spiritual framework for how we…

Faithless Spies

Twelve spies returned from scouting the Promised Land. Two—Caleb and Joshua—saw a land flowing with milk and honey, full of potential and Divine promise. But ten others, faithless spies, came back afraid. “The land devours its inhabitants,”…

In the camp

There is an affliction in the camp. Jews today are facing threats from anti-Semites across the political spectrum—left and right alike. But just as troubling is a rift within our own people. Factions are demanding ideological purity, casting…

Retreating into the Wilderness: America’s Dangerous Drift from a Caring Society

American culture has long romanticized the wilderness. We see untamed landscapes as places of retreat from the pressures of urban life, sources of spiritual renewal, and reflections of national identity. This idealization of nature gave rise…

The Value of Life

I burst into tears watching Edan Alexander reunite with his mother. In that moment, Edan was not a soldier or a political symbol—he was her child. To his family, he was the most important person in the world. And I found myself asking: How…

Inclusive Judaism: We are all God’s disabled

Last week, I attended a conference focused on building a more inclusive and welcoming Judaism. One session, in particular, stood out — finding the source for a “Torah of Safety, Respect and Equity.” The idea feels inherently Jewish: that…

Purge the Shrine

“Purge the holy place from impurity.” - Leviticus 16:16 Arriving in New York, my grandparents and great-grandparents discovered a new holiness.  American idealism supplanted Shtetl Judaism. The Mezuzah at the doorpost was the Statue of…

Democracy’s Disease: When Faith in Authority Falters

Lately, everything I read is colored by a deepening concern for the state of our democracy. Even sacred texts, once sources of comfort and moral grounding, now provoke doubt. This week, as I studied Tazria—the Torah portion detailing the diagnosis…

President Profane

“This is a law for all time throughout the ages for you must distinguish between the sacred and the profane, and between the impure and the pure” Leviticus 10: 9 - 10 In the early 19th century, two very different lives crossed paths as…

Moving Forward

"What’s the difference between depression and anxiety?" my friend asked over lunch. Depression keeps you fixated on the past. Anxiety traps you in fear about the future. Either way, many are either depressed or anxious about the state of the…