The Pulse of Israel: WHAT WE ARE STANDING IN
These words are from a presentation I gave at a Jewish National Fund – USA engagement in Denver, June 10, 2026 at Temple Emanuel. I want to begin with a moment of honesty. I travel. I speak. I meet Jewish communities across the United States and the world. And there is something extraordinarily special when…
Vision & Practice: Don’t Lose the Trees for the Forest
The best leaders hold the long view and the present moment at the same time. Some organizations are caught in…
Don’t Lose the Trees for the Forest
A Jewish people in crisis needs both the long view and the present moment You’ve heard the saying: don’t lose…
We Teach Who We Are: A Practical Guide for Classroom Educators
Teaching About Israel in Times of Crisis Table of Contents Introduction: The Educator at the Center Chapter 1: Understanding the…
The Global Jewish-Israel Syntheses Imagine: We Are All Israeli
I was thinking, growing up, my world was a tapestry of hyphenated identities. There was my Russian-American friend, my Italian-American…
I’m that kid that was wild, energetic, uninterested in school and just wanted to have fun. I’m that kid that wasn’t good in math or science, reading and writing. I’m that kid that preferred not raising his hand in class when I didn’t understand the material for fear of being labeled dumb, or having ADD,…
English Followed by the Hebrew ב”ה שבת תשובה, פרשת וילך תשפ“ב הימים האחרונים של משה רבנו הם מרגשים, ומעלים מחשבות לגבי המסע של כל אחד מאיתנו. משה מסביר לעם ישראל:”… בֶּן-מֵאָה וְעֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה אָנֹכִי הַיּוֹם–לֹא-אוּכַל עוֹד לָצֵאת וְלָבוֹא; וַאלוקים אָמַר אֵלַי, לֹא תַעֲבֹר אֶת-הַיַּרְדֵּן הַזֶּה.” אף על פי זה שמשה הוביל את בני ישראל מעבדות…
English followed by the Hebrew: משפחה וחברים יקרים: אם חודש אלול חודש של סליחות, חודש של תקיעה בשופר יומית (במשנה ברורה: נוהגים לקום באשמורת לומר סליחות ותחנונים מראש חודש אלול ואילך עד יום הכיפורים – הגה: מנהג בני אשכנז אינו כן, מתחילין לתקוע בשופר מראש חודש ואילך) עובר עלינו תקופה של חשבון נפש והיתעוררות –…
The only biblical references to this period of these Days of Awe, beginning with Rosh HaShanna, we are about to enter is found in Leviticus/VaYikra 23:23, “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall you have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of horns,…
The Hamas rocket assault is bad for Palestinians and Israelis alike TEL AVIV — When it started, we heard the children’s school was going virtual again that day. Coronavirus again? No, rockets — 250 had been fired into Israel from Gaza overnight. By that evening, we were in the bomb shelter, as rockets were flying to Tel Aviv.…
We continue to commit such a disservice to our youth, putting them on the frontline to fight for our right to exist, carrying the weight of 2,000 years of exile, when they themselves don’t even know the aleph-bet of their own existence – let alone – Israel’s. Why should a teenager on their way to…