We must remember to seek the wisdom of our elders, and be courageous as we face today's challenges. And sing. We must sing. #SearchBatAsher #Nachshon #ShabbatShirah #ShabbatShalom

 

As the sublime Mary Oliver taught us all, "All important ideas must include the trees, the mountains, and the rivers." Happy #TuBishvat, friends!

 

Upcoming Events!

Upcoming Events!

#MorningTorah every weekday morning at 9am (Eastern) with UJA-Federation of New York: https://www.facebook.com/ujafedny

#KaddishMinyan every Wednesday at 4pm (Eastern) with MyJewishLearning.com: https://zoom.us/j/317119653

#ShabbatShirah (Jan 30) davening with Congregation Beth El in West Orange, NJ: https://bethelnj.org/

Book Talk on #RememberAndDoNotForget Thurs, Feb 4th at 1pm (Eastern) with the Zioness Movement: https://zioness.org/events

"Essential Ingredients for a Healing World" - Scholar in Residence Shabbat Feb 5-7, featuring a Saturday night concert with Neshama Carlebach - with Westchester Jewish Center: wjcenter.org/scholar

"Covid, Ethics and the State of Judaism in American" Wednesday, Feb 10 at 7pm (Eastern) with Temple Beth Sholom, Cherry Hill: https://www.tbsonline.org/event/zoom-covid-ethics-and-the-state-of-judaism-in-america.html

And find out more at: http://rabbicreditor.blogspot.com

Today is #InternationalHolocaustRemembranceDay, the day in 1945 the Allies liberated Auschwitz/Bikenau. And friends, to truly #Remember & #NeverForget, we must face the trauma of our past and identify the violent echoes of the Nazis wherever and whenever it rises again. May the memory of the 6 million be for a fierce blessing for the world through our actions.

 

From trembling to birth: the path towards freedom.

 

“Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” - George Orwell

“Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” 

- George Orwell

 
We are not ignorant enough to believe that Amalek has ceased to exist. But it is our deepest prayer that as long as we remember, as long as we continue to call out the events of this dark day for what they are, then the bigotry of Amalek will return to the sewers of society, where it belongs. #RememberAndDoNotForget

amazon.com/Remember-Do-Not-Forget-Testimonies/dp/B08STPFM83

Even miraculous moments require a combination of waiting and not-waiting, of acting while remembering to breathe. So, dear friends, breathe. Miracles are happening all around. Slowly. So, breathe. ❤️

 

It's time to educate ourselves, as citizens, on the history of the #Filibuster. https://youtu.be/3y1QA6OeAcQ

I can't seal myself in my home, thinking my safety is of deeper significance than yours. NO plague, biblical or modern, only affects some of us. I am only free if my sister is. #BuildOnLove

 

Q: What kind of story is the kind worth sharing with your children and your children's children? A: One that fills your soul with hope and wonder.

 

Upon the Inauguration of President Joseph Biden

We Americans must decide today that ‘the political divide’ is simply a catchphrase and a distraction. The real issue is seeing people with whom we disagree as people. We must acknowledge where we all, as a shared society, are broken, if we are to truly engage in the work of healing. And we are deeply, deeply broken. All Americans, Jews included, are responsible for the reestablishment of truth and trust in our communities. As the ancient sage Rabbi Joshua ben Perachiah once said, “find for yourself a teacher, make a friend, and give all people the benefit of the doubt.” Jewish tradition would have us remember that ideas like unity and faith are shallow promises unless our communal decisions reflect the very real belief in a common good and the commitment to actions that affirm universal human dignity. The sorrow that unites us in the face of 400,000 American lives lost to COVID must translate into a culture of healing and of kindness, grace, and respect. There will be no real peace if there is not enacted justice. As Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel taught, “on three things does the world depend: on justice, on truth, and on peace.” Let there be hope. Let the great work begin today. Let it begin with me. May God bless the United States of America. 

Inauguration Day: Kindness, grace, and respect. Good morning. Today, I wept through Maya Angelou's "On the Pulse of Morning."

 

בָּרוּךְ ...הַנּוֹתֵן לַיָּעֵף כֹּֽחַ Blessed is the One who gives strength to the weary.

 

On the eve of the presidential inauguration, may the sorrow that unites us bring us into each other's hearts. May God bless the United States of America with justice, healing, and peace.

It's always darkest before the dawn... #MorningTorah

 

#RecitingTheLetterFromBirmingham

#RecitingTheLetterFromBirmingham

#RecitingTheLetterFromBirmingham

I just recited the letter and am in tears from the profundity of Dr. King's prophetic expression, the depths to which humanity was and remains willing to fall, and the sense that God's Hopes are alive in this text. I'm so overwhelmed. And so grateful. And I feel even more ready than I was before to pursue justice with everything I've got.

A comment on language,

A comment on language, something explored in the rapid-response rabbinic collection to January 6, "Remember and Do Not Forget" - using the use of the word "storming" to describe what happened romanticizes the coup attempt in the eyes of the domestic terrorists. 

I ask us consider using other words, like "attack" or "assault." Storming the Bastille was an act of liberation and led to a holiday. Storming the beaches of Normandy helped turn the tide in WWII for the allies. The assault on Washington, DC on January 6, 2021 was not noble. It was sedition. It was terrorism. It was hate incarnate.

amazon.com/dp/B08STPFM83

You must hear this. It's horrifying. We must hear it. “The other option was to try to appeal to their humanity . I remember yelling out that I have kids...” -DC officer nearly killed at Capitol

 

Take the time and listen to this. Now. https://t.co/tBOaqZ2snr

— Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sifill_LDF) January 15, 2021

How do we continue to dream in today's world? How should we remember Dr. King's message? What are the places of American Civil Rights and the #BlackLivesMatter movement in the Jewish community?

 

What question would you ask God today? Here are two of mine: what, Holy One, gives you hope? and How can I help?

 

Israeli Singer Ninet Tayeb performs "I have no other country", by Ehud Manor, at Rabin Square, Tel Aviv.

Israeli Singer Ninet Tayeb performs "I have no other country", by Ehud Manor, at Rabin Square, Tel Aviv.

Translation: 

"I have no other country 

even if my land is burning. 

Just a word in Hebrew 

pierces my veins, my soul, 

in a weak body, in a broken heart. 

This is my home.

I will not stay silent 

because my country changed her face

I will not give up reminding her 

And sing in her ears 

she will open her eyes."

Remember and Do Not Forget: Rabbinic Testimonies of January 6, 2021: A Horrific Day in American History

I wish there had been no need for this rapid-response book, testimony from 46 American Rabbis from diverse movements, locations, and political opinions, about the horrors of January 6, 2021. The voices are powerful, the messages they send their communities were honest and searing, comforting and strong. I'm especially grateful to my friend and colleague, Rabbi Jesse Olitzky, who shared in the editing of this project, and to my mentor, Ruth Messinger, for offering a prophetic foreword to the book.

To the contributors, may your words reach every corner of Heaven and Earth. May our fragile nation do better.

May God bless the United States with justice, and with peace.

Book link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08STPFM83
Table of Contents: https://tinyurl.com/Jan6bookTOC
Contributor bios: https://tinyurl.com/Jan6bookAuthors
_________________

From the introduction:

"We will forever remember the events of January 6, 2021. We also understand that, just like Torah, there is power in collective memory. This is especially true considering that we may remember the events of this day differently, each of us reflecting on it using our own eyes, hearts – and our unique choices of words.

Was the attack on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021 a riot? A coup? Insurrection? Domestic terrorism? A protest? Words matter, and how we remember is shaped by the words we use. As the great essayist and thinker George Orwell once observed: “Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” We have done our best to collect diverse rabbinic testimonies from an indescribable moment of American history with a commitment to remember and a promise to not forget. We will not be defined by the threats of white supremacists and the acts of domestic terrorists. But they undoubtedly shape us and shape our view of the world.

We are not ignorant enough to think that bigotry did not exist before the Trump era nor would we be so foolish as to suggest that it will cease once that era is over. But we had thought that American society was in collective agreement that bigotry belonged in the sewers and gutters of society. But when the President amplified such bigotry in 240-characters at a time on his Twitter feed for four years straight, and worse yet, successfully used that bigotry to influence his supporters, he gave them permission to proudly and loudly -- and violently -- express such hateful bigotry for the world to see and incite violence. We are not ignorant enough to believe that Amalek has ceased to exist.

But it is our deepest prayer that as long as we remember, as long as we continue to call out the events of this dark day for what they are, then the bigotry of Amalek will return to the sewers of society, where it belongs."

Torah in the Morning!

 

Breathe... Feel the air inside you again. Breathe out... make everything that emerges from you into a gift.

 

How do we face Pharaoh? How do we teach our children about these moments? How do we change course?

 

A Confederate flag was tied here two days ago. Not long ago. Not far away. Never again.

 

Going into Shabbat with #Justice on my mind. #ShabbatShalom

 

Friends, you have it in you to be strong, to love your neighbor as yourself, to demand and bring a better future for the sakes of all our children. Yesterday was horrific. Let's make tomorrow much, much better. And listen to today's Torah learning - and then sing with me. The times they are a changing. They must.

 

In this week's Parsha, Exodus/Shemot, we are challenged to live a life of "piety and protest," the title of an important book by SENATOR-ELECT Reverend Raphael Warnock! We must remember that ending oppression means seeing my freedom as bound up in yours. #lovethyneighbor #buildonlove

 

Announcing: the second volume of my father's reflections: 'Praying for Our Country!'

 ***Special Announcement ***

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08RR9SFR2/

Thrilled to announce the publication of the second volume of my father's reflections: 'Praying for Our Country!' These essays, selected from his teachings 1998-2014, touch on:

- The Supreme Court & Religious Neutrality

- Justice and Mercy: To Pardon or Not?

- The Unfinished Business of the Civil War

- Is the Flag Sacred?

- Jewish Reflections on Domestic Violence

- How to Understand the Evangelicals

- Levitical Reflections on the Health Care Bill

- Upon Hearing That Osama Bin Laden Was Dead

And a special feature of this volume is a foreword by his grandson, Moshe, who wrote:

"My Sabbah is the kind of religious leader whose belief is centered on making the world a better place for everyone. Perhaps this sentence from one of his pieces says it best: 'That is what God wants of us. To care and take care of each other. To take care of the world.' I’m grateful to have a Sabbah who puts humanity first. As his grandson, I am proud to carry on his vision of humane ideas and a healthy, unified America."

Get your copy here! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08RR9SFR2/

#NewBook #newbookalert #Author #america #faith #justice

Can we be brave and honest? We must, if the future is to be better than the past, re-examine our history with open eyes. Exodus begins with national leaders who are clever in their efforts to hold people down. Only when we all rise are any of us free.

 

As we close the book of Genesis, we learn: We can't know the future, but we can commit to blessing each other every day. May the year to come find us in each other's arms! #ShabbatShalom #HappyNewYear