Today, upon getting my second vaccine, I broadcasted from a new location, holy ground of a new sort. The angel who gave me the gift of life was more than a nurse: she is an angel. And the vaccine is not just a shot, but a symbol of hope.

 

What is the promise and demand of the Exodus story we share on Passover? That, if we take each step together, we will find each other on the other side of the sea.

 

What Is Passover?

Let's close our eyes, rebecome the children we once were, and wonder if this is the year Elijah and Miriam will be waiting when we open our doors. #ShabbatShalom #ChagSameach

 

How does the Hagaddah's portrayal of the Four Children speak to the need for compassionate listening? What makes a good teacher? #Pesach #Passover #Seder #FourChildren

 

What do the American Gun Violence Epidemic and the Search for Chametz have in common? The recognition that liberation must be a collective truth in order to be true at all and that actually doing our best is the only way to honestly claim that we've one our best.

#Pesach #GunViolence #GunViolenceAwareness #gunviolenceprevention #EndGunViolence #OlamChesedYibaneh #BuildOnLove #EnoughIsEnough #NotOneMore

Radical empathy means re-examining our own story of liberation and asking: who have we left behind in previous tellings? #Seder #Hagaddah #Passover #Pesach

 

Pre-Passover Torah #1: In every generation, we are called to see ourselves. That is what it is to leave Egypt behind.

 

Parashat VaYikra teaches that to hurt another human being is to sin against God. As we journey toward Pesach, let's remember: On the road to freedom, no one can be left behind. Shabbat Shalom, friends!

 

On this #1YearAnniversary of our UJA-Federation of New York 9am broadcasts, as we receive official recognition by the Village of Scarsdale for the community we've created, as we face yet another explosion of racism in America, this time violently aimed at Asian Americans, we must demonstrate with our action again the core Jewish truth: "Your neighbor is not abstraction." #allies #stopaapihate #StopAsianHate #StopAsianHateCrimes

 

A Statement by Susannah Heschel: "The cold blooded murder of eight human beings, six of them Asian women, is a horrific signal to all of us of the increasing violence against Asians in the US and the continued, relentless violence against women - women of all ages, races, nationalities. Hatred of women is the most reliable predictor of murder and mass murder."

 

Deeper than the sacrifices listed in this week's parsha, deeper than the details of Jewish law, is the commitment to each other's wellbeing. #LoveYourNeighbor #GoAndLearn

 

When God notices Moses' absence, when we experience loss, we can be blessed to make room for another, to learn from them what they feel or who they were, to be of service and deepen relationship. #IThou #MartinBuber #ChesedShelEmet #VaYikra #Tzimtzum #Heschel #Loss #Relationship

 

As we begin a new book of the Torah, I remember a time I sat with Rabbi Jacob Milgrom z"l in his glorious sukkah in Jerusalem where he unlocked the meaning of Leviticus for me. #Leviticus #Law #Love

 

Good Shabbos, kind souls.

 

A hidden message in this week's Torah Portions is: You are beautiful. Your body is holy. Physical pleasure is a way of being spiritually present. #MorningTorah

 

A Vaccine Prayer

A Vaccine Prayer
Rabbi Menachem Creditor

Dear God,
after all the loss,
the distance, the sadness, the aloneness,
Give me life. Grant me back Your world. Please.
Give my children reason for hope. Please. Please.

Holy Healing One,
May the vaccine I'm about to receive be a sign that healing is arriving once again in our world, for all Your worried children.
May my body's temporary discomfort sensitize me to the needs of this fragile world that remain invisible to the eye.
May my body's pent-up tension, held back during an unfathomable year of constriction and stress, be channeled in a healthy way for those around me.
May the scientists and doctors and nurses who have served as your angels and saved our world be granted restoration of soul and healing of mind.

I pledge before You, Source of All, to do as much good as I can as long as my soul is within me.

May I be granted a life filled by the honor of serving You by serving others.

Thank You. Goodness.
Thank You. Healing.
Thank You. Life.

Amen.


#vaccine #COVID19 #prayer

A morning like no other. I shared a poem written by my dear friend Stacey Zisook Robinson z"l, and my own life moment, as today I received my first vaccine. This morning, we shared some Torah. And tears. #HolyTears #Gratitude #MorningTorah

 

"A Prayer for Hope" by my friend Stacey Zisook Robinson z"l. May her memory be for a blessing.

Today we began learning Torah again, celebrating a #Siyyum, a completion of the entire Torah last Friday. #ChazakChazakVenitchazek #SiyyumHaTorah #HafochBah #BeginAgain #MorningTorah #BuildOnLove

Today we began learning Torah again, celebrating a #Siyyum, a completion of the entire Torah last Friday. We began broadcasting March 18, 2020, and didn't miss a weekday morning since. To all of you for sharing in the building of this sacred community, as far away as Saudia Arabia, Pakistan, France, Holland, England, Israel, and Yonkers, bless you.

 
I dedicate our year of Torah to my precious parents, who blessed me with Torah from even before I was born, to my holy wife, for holding my heart with such love and wisdom, and to my UJA-Federation of New York colleague Mark Medin, for championing this online experiment a year ago. Thank you, friends, for sharing the journey.

 

On Finishing a Year of Torah

In the midst of these strange times, a growing community of friends have joined together every weekday morning at 9am on the UJA-Federation of New York Facebook page to learn Torah, to keep each other company, to strengthen each other. I know this has been a positive thing for others, but it has been a vital thing for me, not only as a teacher, but as a Jew. This came up just a few days ago in conversation with my mentor, Rabbi Craig Scheff of the Orangetown Jewish Center (OJC). I was his first rabbinic intern. It has come up in conversation with my father, Rabbi Gary Creditor, who has always been my rabbi. I have become increasingly aware of what a privilege it is to be a rabbi, to be part of the lineage of Torah teachers that stretches back in time for thousands of years and will, please God, continue forever. I will be forever grateful for the blessing of being part of a Torah community, and this morning felt like no other. Monday morning we will celebrate a siyyum, a completion of a cycle of learning, and we will launch immediately into the cycle to come. Torah is always moving forward, and we with Torah. "All her ways are pleasant, and all her paths are peace. (Prov. 3:17)"

*SPECIAL MOMENT* Today marked the end of an entire Torah cycle of 9am broadcasts on the UJA-Federation of New York Facebook page. There we've gathered with thousands of good, kind souls, every morning since March 18, 2020 to learn Torah, to strengthen each other, to engage in our world, and to build community. Monday morning at 9am, we will celebrate a #siyyum of the entire Torah, beginning again where the strange and winding sacred path launched one year ago. May we be blessed to experience love for each other and our world through Torah morning and night. #MorningTorah #ShabbatShalom

 *SPECIAL MOMENT* Today marked the end of an entire Torah cycle of 9am broadcasts on the UJA-Federation of New York Facebook page. There we've gathered with thousands of good, kind souls, every morning since March 18, 2020 to learn Torah, to strengthen each other, to engage in our world, and to build community. Monday morning at 9am, we will celebrate a #siyyum of the entire Torah, beginning again where the strange and winding sacred path launched one year ago. May we be blessed to experience love for each other and our world through Torah morning and night. #MorningTorah #ShabbatShalom 

We are each other's anchors. We are present together. #KiTissa #MorningTorah

 

What is God? What is an idol? What is a person? #beyondthings #kitissa #morningtorah

 

Life itself is holy art. We are shadows for God in so many ways.

 

Black History Month was first proposed by black educators and the Black United Students at Kent State University in February 1969. Clearly the learning isn't a month's task. It's a life task. The commitment to exploring Black History is not limited to a month. it is an always thing. May we be blessed to be deeply and consistently engaged with listening and learning from the wisdom and the experiences of Black voices in America.

 

Everyone counts. #KiTissa #HalfShekel #MorningTorah