This past Friday evening my synagogue hosted Pastor Glenn Plummer (in photo at left) as the keynote speaker for part of our Synaplex Shabbat. Glenn Plummer, a Black Evangelical minister from Detroit, founded the Fellowship of Israel and Black America (FIBA) in February 2006. FIBA is a partnership with the International Fellowship of Christians and…
Like most rabbis, I do a lot of juggling. Being a rabbi is a 24/7 job with many responsibilities. But I also love to juggle in the literal sense. In fact, I hope to be able to master juggling four balls soon. I recently saw a video of a great juggling performance by performer Chris…
In July 2005 I saw one of my favorite bands, Rusted Root, in concert at The House of Blues at the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas. Following the show, the members of the group signed autographs and met with their fans as they usually do. The first one to come sign autographs was Liz…
Yes, technology is increasingly more important in Judaism. Ten years ago when I wrote my senior thesis in college on “The Globalization of Judaism” focusing on how new technology has affected the global Jewish community, I predicted that in the future congregations would communicate with their membership via e-mail and that Jews would choose their…
There have been a lot of comedy events lately and that makes sense. The Hebrew month of Adar, with the festive holiday of Purim in the middle of the month, is approaching and according to the famous phrase, “when Adar comes we increase our joy.” And that seems to be exactly what everyone’s doing. This…
From Haaretz.com Holocaust denier suspected in attempted U.S. kidnapping of survivor Elie Wiesel By Shlomo Shamir Nobel Peace laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel says he escaped a kidnapping attempt at a San Fransisco hotel last week. Wiesel, 78, whose novels deal with his experiences as a Holocaust survivor, told Haaretz he was grabbed by…
One of the first things I knew I needed to do when I moved to Columbus to become rabbi of Congregation Agudas Achim was to meet with Florence Melton. Florence was one of the greatest gifts to Jewish education in recent time. Sitting in her apartment, I was extremely impressed not only with her intellect…
The PBS Religion and Ethics NewsWeekly program did a segment recently on Conservative Judaism and Homosexuality. Rabbi Elliot Dorff (left), Rabbi Joel Roth, rabbinical student Ethan Hammerman (right), and a gay couple with three children were all interviewed. I was surprised by this quote from JTS Talmud professor Joel Roth: “Jewish law is clearly without…
“Why isn’t your Purim Spiel funny?” asks Rob Kutner (pictured) on his ‘Shushan Channel‘ website. Kutner is a writer for “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.” He continues, “Jewish people are the funniest people in the world. So why are most Purim spiels [their spelling… I use “shpiel”] so lame? We’re not sure, but we…
I was at the Detroit Pistons-Cleveland Cavaliers game yesterday at the Quicken Loans Arena. Here is a video clip from the nationally televised broadcast of me taking a picture with my son, Josh, sitting in front of me. Watch immediately after they first show Rasheed Wallace at the Free Throw Line. Video: Still: (Left to…