There is a concept in Jewish Law that can have both positive and negative outcomes. Pirkei Avot (The Ethics of the Sages) opens with the idea to “erect a fence around the Torah” (“asu s’yag laTorah“). This metaphorical fence is intended to protect the Jewish people from even coming close to sin or violating a…
Using web applications like Google Analytics and sitemeter, I can track the web searches that have referred visitors to my blog. Ever since the ’08 presidential election and President-Elect Obama’s nomination of Rahm Emanuel to be his chief of staff, there have been hundreds of searches for “Rahm Emanuel Kippah” that have landed web surfers…
It has long been a pet peeve of mine that most Reform congregations only observe one day of Rosh Hashanah. According to the Torah, Rosh Hashanah is just one day, but it has been celebrated for two days for over a 1,000 years. With the exception of Yom Kippur an extra day was added to…
The other day I had the chance to listen to Senator Barack Obama on a conference call for American rabbis. The most impressive part of the phone call was not the Democratic Presidential nominee’s ten minute talk. Rather, it was a rabbi who spoke on the call before Obama. Rabbi Elliot Dorff (right) of the…
The five week hiatus since my last blog post might be the longest dry spot I’ve had since starting this blog almost five years ago. But I have a good excuse — I’ve been working at Camp Tamarack all summer. As the camp rabbi I’ve fielded many questions, but by far the most common question…
From the Detroit Jewish NewsBy Shelli Liebman Dorfman Rabbi Daniel Nevins sees his new job as dean of the rabbinical school at the Conservative movement’s Jewish Theological Seminary in New York as “both an honor and a challenge.” The rabbi has served Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills for 13 years. He will begin his…