Building and Rebuilding
05/01/2024 09:00:55 AM
Only a month remains before I depart from PTS, and it still does not feel real. Unlike many other Jewish professionals I have met through my time as the Director of Youth and Family Engagement, who have worked for many Jewish organizations, this is my first time leaving one Jewish community...Read more...
mourning
04/01/2024 09:00:36 AM
As long as I have been a rabbi and have been composing eulogies to give comfort to mourners, I have found tremendous power in these words by Rabbi Sidney Greenberg: “The Psalmist wisely spoke of walking ‘through the valley of the shadow.’ No road of life can detour...Read more...
my dad had a pet dinosaur
02/29/2024 11:58:24 AM
My dad had a pet dinosaur that would follow him to school. He could make a mouse from a handkerchief and it would come alive when he let us pet it. He went bungee jumping when he was 70 years old. And, this past year, he made a wire elephant with wings instead of ears....Read more...
Praying Is Like Jazz Playing
02/01/2024 09:00:28 AM
"Praying is like playing jazz. You can play alone, but exciting things happen in sessions with other musicians, especially if you’ve played with them before… Sometimes we all pray in harmony, other times we pray at our own rhythm, at our own volume. Jewish tradition explores the inner...Read more...
annual congregational retreat
11/30/2023 09:30:00 AM
As we are winding down 2023 and looking toward 2024, I want to invite you to deepen your sense of community at PTS by attending the congregational retreat. Having attended the retreat as a congregant in January 2023, before I became a staff member, I am delighted to now...Read more...
how i'm combating antisemitism with asap
11/01/2023 09:30:31 AM
My Story of History. Hate. Hope.
The Star of David pendant I wear nearly every day around my neck is not a traditional six point star. The two triangles joined together are missing parts, so that woven within the design is...Read more...
Four Species, One Congregation
10/01/2023 10:00:34 AM
Beginning at sundown this evening, and continuing for the next seven days, Jews around the world will celebrate the festival of Sukkot. In addition to spending time in the booths or huts for which the holiday is named, the signature observance of this festival is the ritual of the...Read more...
jonah, god, and our capacity to change
09/25/2023 04:35:55 PM
Jonah, God, and Our Capacity to Change
Sermon Yom Kippur 5784
September 25, 2023
One of the benefits of being part of a religious community is that we are able to tap into a wisdom tradition, and during uncertain times, when we may feel...Read more...
living the good life
09/25/2023 04:23:47 PM
Living the Good Life: Making Room for Awe
Sermon, Kol Nidre 5784
September 25, 2023
In September, 2014, to celebrate my fiftieth birthday, my wife, Sandra, who knows me really, really well, took me to a concert at Davies Symphony Hall...Read more...
putting kindness at the center
09/22/2023 10:00:00 AM
Putting Kindness at the Center
Sermon, Rosh Hashanah
September 16, 2023
Near the end of the Torah, almost at the end of the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses instructs the community that every seventh year, they are to gather during Sukkot....Read more...
