Rabbi's Blog

I imagine, if we're honest, we all have memories of the past that bring a sting of shame and remorse as we face aspects of ourselves at different ages. 

Hear powerful Words of Torah from Rabbi Marc from Yom Kippur 5781. 2020 has been a challenging year in so many capacities but we must confront our feelings on race and racism. Perhaps these words can serve as the beginning of your awareness of the need to stand up and name something for what it is. 

"The heartbeat of racism is denial. The heartbeat of antiracism is confession" - Ibram X. Kendi. 

Hear Rabbi Marc's entire sermon here:

It's not about education, it's about Teshuva! Yes, there is so much collective Teshuva, repentance, that we need to do. The Jewish community has been far from immune to the disease of racism. Even though our tradition demands that we see every human being as a reflection of the divine image, deserving dignity and respect. 

Justice, justice shall you pursue!

It’s pretty hard to believe that this time next week it will be Passover when it feels like the world as we know it has changed so much as we face our fears, our solitude, our anxiety, our sadness and so much more.  How is this Passover different to all other Passovers?  Well, in just about every way possible. So, how do we deal with all this change and still celebrate this holiday that is important and precious to so many...Read more...

Moments before jumping into the narrow, rocky chute, Dave, my laconic guide who has skied these steep mountains in Taos, New Mexico for almost forty years, each run like a pulsing vein in his own body, warned me “if you fall with your head facing downhill, you have just seconds to get yourself turned around and stick your boots, your hands, your poles, whatever you can in the snow to stop your fall, otherwise you will slide all the way down...Read more...

Once upon a time in a Synagogue on Rosh Hashanah, the congregation, inspired by their Rabbi and Cantor, were collectively deep in contemplative prayer. During Musaf, it was as if the Gates of Prayer were swung open, and everyone had a private audience with the Creator. Much like any given Shabbat at Bonei Shalom, the intensity of the davening was so profound, not even the Cantor would dare sing a word, as the whole of the congregation were at...Read more...

Carl Herbet – Kalman ben Yosef v’Dora May 1st, 1921 – August 18th, 2019

“Aizeh hu gibor? Who is strong?” asked Rabbi ben Zoma in Pirkei Avot, “hacoveysh et yiztro, the one who controls his passions.” Carl Herbet was physically strong,...Read more...

Block 19, C Lager, Auschwitz II – Birkenau – November 8th 2018

Read more...

Montgomery to Birmingham, Alabama

Last week I found myself eating lunch next to two black police officers at an Indian restaurant in downtown Birmingham, Alabama, a scene that would have been impossible just fifty years earlier in this state when the local police force included no people of color and was part of the horrible, systemic violence perpetrated against blacks.  [The first black policeman in Birmingham was Leroy Stover...Read more...

Let us tell tales

All the rest can wait

All the rest must wait

Let us tell tales

That is our primary obligation

Commentaries will have to come later

Lest they replace or becloud what they mean to reveal

Let us tell tales

So as to remember how vulnerable man is when faced with overwhelming evil

Let us tell tales

So as not to allow the executioner to have the last...Read more...

A man goes to a psychologist, “I need your help. My brother is crazy. He thinks he’s a chicken.” “Describe his symptoms” the doctor says. “Maybe I can help.” “Well, he bocks a lot, he pecks at the rug and the furniture, and he makes nests in the corners.” The doctor thinks for a moment then says, “It sounds like a simple neurosis to me. Bring in your brother-in-law. I think I can cure...Read more...

Irene Ilona Rosenschein – Yitta bat Yisrael v’Bluma Hendel
Delivered at Bonai Shalom on May 18th 2018, Sivan 4, 5778

Who here does not feel richer and a little more complete through knowing Irene Ilona Rosenschein, who has left the most extraordinary legacy to every...Read more...

Beverly Helen Goodman (Silverberg) – Chaya Breindel bat Shimshon v’Shaindel

August 19th 1937 – February 19th 2018

“Olam chesed yibaneh – The world is built on hesed, on loving kindness” says The Book of Psalms (89:3). Hesed is the biblical Hebrew for which the English word lovingkindness was invented by bible translator Miles...Read more...

It’s late on Shabbat afternoon and Rebbi Meir is teaching in the beit midrash, the house of learning. Meanwhile back at home, his two sons pass away.Their mother, Beruria, lays them down on their bed and spreads a sheet over them.

As Shabbat is ending, Rebbi Meir comes home from the beit midrash. He says to Beruria, “where are my two sons?” “they went to the beit midrash.” “I expected them at the beit...Read more...

Friends,

This is a very important statement from the Conservative Movement that I feel obligated to share with the community at this time as most of my colleagues have already done.

Many blessings

Rabbi Marc

Read more...

Being in Jerusalem or London or New York, I get really used to the daily rhythm of joining, and sometimes, leading a morning minyan to start my day.  This is truer than ever before, now that I am in my year of mourning for my father.  There is something so comforting about starting each day with the same, familiar ritual of donning tefilllin and joining the chorus of chanting the ancient words of our siddur. ...Read more...

Every day this sacred and complex land brings rich, new experiences and adventures and constant reminders of how many different stories there are to tell, each with its own perspective.  An infinity of narratives that contradict each other and yet they are all true.  My week has included learning Torah from Reform, Conservative and Orthodox rabbis; participating in services that are liberal and fully egalitarian,...Read more...