Blog

By the time you are reading this, I will have just returned from the late Winter/early Spring meetings of the Executive Council of the Cantors Assembly, of which I serve as Senior Vice President. The Cantors Assembly is the Conservative movement’s professional arm for Cantors, of which there are approximately 600 members serving congregations across the globe. The Cantors Assembly provides professional...Read more...

In this week’s Torah portion, God expresses concerns that upon entering The Promised Land, the Israelites will adopt the practices of the pagan cultures that surround them. Throughout the Torah, they are regularly chastised by God and Moses, and the Prophets as well. The temptation to sin is always present, for as we read in Genesis 4:7 after Cain is depressed that God found his sacrifice to be less than...Read more...

All of us have memories of events that reach across time and continue to impact us. It can be a singular event that we participated in or witnessed, or it can be a communal event. Time will tell how the attack on October 7, 2023, continues to impact Jews around the world, but there is an older event that continues to impact us to this day: The Exodus from Egypt. This was the moment that began the transformation...Read more...

While I do not know what is the best or most appropriate way to celebrate the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I’d like to think that our Unity Weekend with Ebenezer Baptist Church would please him. Blacks and Jews worshipping together in both of their houses would have been something unusual in his day. We did so because he enabled us to do so. Joining in song in a Baptist Church is incredibly...Read more...

Living in the northeastern part of the United States most of my life has afforded me the opportunity to enjoy the change in seasons. Growing up near the Jersey Shore meant frequenting Asbury Park. I might have met or seen Bruce Springsteen, but I wouldn’t know. I was never bored, and there was no need for additional amusements. You learned how to swim in the ocean, how to body surf, and how to handle rip tides....Read more...