Dear Friends,
I'm thrilled to share with you the news that my second collection of essays, Intense Beginnings, is about to be published! Stay tuned for that information in the coming weeks. In honor of the new book's release, some of my other titles are available at reduced prices. (See the bottom of this email for the links to those titles, as well as some recent essays/video blogs I've shared.)
But on this Veterans Day, where we share gratitude for servicewomen and servicemen - like my amazing sister, Navy Chaplain Rabbi Yonina Creditor - who give and give on behalf and in defense of our nation, I especially want to tell you about some work in which I’ve been involved these past months, during which I joined the board of the One America Movement. It’s a remarkable movement – bringing people together across religious, racial, cultural and political divides to participate together in community service projects, and a shared meal and conversation. It started soon after the 2016 election, when a group of faith leaders sat down and mapped out a different vision for the country. We talked about how to bridge the growing divisions in our society, how to address the growing isolation we feel from each other, the “bubbles” we increasingly find ourselves living in. We dreamed about how to build a movement for a better way of treating each other — and how to begin by living out the values behind that movement. The end result was this organization, the One America Movement, led by a colleague and friend I have come to admire enormously – Andy Hanauer. I encourage you to read his piece from last May “Isolation Won’t Save Us” which you can see here. I'm also writing to ask if you’d consider contributing. I’m passionate about this work – I wouldn’t have joined the board if I didn’t believe fervently in its importance and that it can make a difference in our national life. Please consider donating here.
I'm thrilled to share with you the news that my second collection of essays, Intense Beginnings, is about to be published! Stay tuned for that information in the coming weeks. In honor of the new book's release, some of my other titles are available at reduced prices. (See the bottom of this email for the links to those titles, as well as some recent essays/video blogs I've shared.)
But on this Veterans Day, where we share gratitude for servicewomen and servicemen - like my amazing sister, Navy Chaplain Rabbi Yonina Creditor - who give and give on behalf and in defense of our nation, I especially want to tell you about some work in which I’ve been involved these past months, during which I joined the board of the One America Movement. It’s a remarkable movement – bringing people together across religious, racial, cultural and political divides to participate together in community service projects, and a shared meal and conversation. It started soon after the 2016 election, when a group of faith leaders sat down and mapped out a different vision for the country. We talked about how to bridge the growing divisions in our society, how to address the growing isolation we feel from each other, the “bubbles” we increasingly find ourselves living in. We dreamed about how to build a movement for a better way of treating each other — and how to begin by living out the values behind that movement. The end result was this organization, the One America Movement, led by a colleague and friend I have come to admire enormously – Andy Hanauer. I encourage you to read his piece from last May “Isolation Won’t Save Us” which you can see here. I'm also writing to ask if you’d consider contributing. I’m passionate about this work – I wouldn’t have joined the board if I didn’t believe fervently in its importance and that it can make a difference in our national life. Please consider donating here.
Chevreh, we are living in a deep, transformational moment. I myself am exploring new ways in which I can offer my gifts in the world, a world in such need of the love we each have to offer. Just this past week, I stood side by side, heart to heart, with the sublime Neshama Carlebach and other amazingly talented and passionate Jewish musicians and poured out my song, Olam Chesed Yibaneh, with an audience whose shared singing and deep hope lifted my heart higher than it's ever been before. You can witness that holy moment by clicking here. (The whole concert was ecstatic, and Olam begins at 2 hours, 9 minutes.) I share this experience not only because of the exquisite love of that moment, but also because we all deserve the hope and inspiration that moment offered.
If we hold each other right and well, if we build this world from love, then hope and inspiration will flow ever stronger in your own heart. And, in this way, I believe with all of me, we can change the whole world for the better. We must. And we will.
See below for some of titles available at reduced prices and some new essays/videos!
Shabbat Shalom!
Love,
Menachem
Selected Books
- What Does it Mean?
- And Yet We Love: Poems
- Primal Prayers: Spiritual Responses to a Real World
- Rabbi Rebecca and the Thanksgiving Leftovers
The Preacher's Daughter Was Shot
Facebook Live video (Nov. 5, 2017)
A Prayer after the Church Shooting in Sutherland Springs
menachemcreditor.net (Nov. 5, 2017)
Parashat VaYera: Which Fire Will it Be?
The Times of Israel (October 29, 2017)
Finding Holiness at San Quentin
YouTube (Oct. 26, 2007)
Parashat Noach: It Will Be Good
The Times of Israel (October 18, 2017)
The Deepest Thing Inside (Yom Kippur 5778/2017)
The Times of Israel (September 30, 2017)
To Kneel [a Poem]
menachemcreditor.net (Nov. 5, 2017)
The Times of Israel (October 18, 2017)
The Deepest Thing Inside (Yom Kippur 5778/2017)
The Times of Israel (September 30, 2017)
To Kneel [a Poem]
menachemcreditor.net (Nov. 5, 2017)