Freedom In Service


Below is my Passover article for the "Let's Talk" blog of the Arch Diocese of Miami


On Friday evening, April 22nd Jewish communities around the world will begin the holiday of Passover. Passover is an eight day festival celebrating the liberation of the Israelites from the slavery placed upon them in Egypt. Through great redemption God brought the Israelites out of bondage so that they could receive the Torah, God’s eternal covenant with the Jewish people.

When Passover is discussed we often focus on the theme of freedom- this has made the Passover story a source of inspiration for many people and political struggles for self-rule and self-determination have often invoked the vocabulary of Passover. From slavery to freedom- a theme that touches the hearts of all people. However, there is another side to freedom. God did not “free” the Israelites so that they could do whatever they wanted- freedom has a purpose.
Truth be told, none of us ever experience total freedom. Unless we shun all human company and all sense of right and wrong, our choices are always bound by certain rules, a sense of what is moral or not. Likewise, no matter who we are, we all “serve” others: it might be our boss, our family, or our community. The freedom granted to the Israelites was not a release from all obligations but, rather, the freedom to choose whom they would serve.

As slaves to Pharaoh they had no choice- body and soul, sun up to sun down, they were told what to do by Pharaoh or his agents. They were mere “human machines” creating the infrastructure of an empire. This type of slavery is the most destructive to the human spirit- to be considered a mere tool rather than a creature made in the image of God.
Passover, as it recalls the Exodus, marks the turning point in which slaves to Pharaoh were given the opportunity to become the servants of God. (A definite promotion!!) This was the meaning of Israelite freedom- God granted them a moment of redemption to redefine who they were to be. The Israelites made their choice clear when they came to Mt. Sinai and accepted the Torah with their pledge to be a holy people.

Throughout the two millennia of our common history both Jews and Christians have embraced the message of Passover. We celebrate great redemptive acts of the past and to offer surety in our faith in a God who moves through history and affects the fates of nations and individuals. The message of redemption, however, must be put in the framework of freedom. By releasing the Israelites from the physical and spiritual chains of Egypt God posed the ultimate question: “Now that you are free whom shall you serve?”
May our choice to serve God always be as definitive as that of the Israelites. When we stand before the sea of indecision or doubt may we jump in the water knowing that surely God shall spilt the sea before our foot is even wet! Passover celebrates freedom, but true freedom is the ability to choose the service of God.

Passover Program at St. Kieran

DOUGH!!! JUST FOR LAFFS!!

What do you get when you mix a Jewish baker, a Muslim helper, Challah dough, and pot? One funny movie about the cultural mix of East London. I had a chance to sit down with Jerome Holder of "Dough" to talk about the movie- a comedy that also deals with some very real life stories!
Watch for my interview with Jerome on an upcoming segment of "To Life, L'Chaim," Jewish Life Television, Tuesdays at 9:00pm.

Finding Unity in Our Diversity
A recent decision by the Israeli government is a real game changer- the government has created a new prayer space at the Kotel that will give official recognition, funding, and access to an egalitarian prayer plaza at the Kotel. Plans have been drawn to create this separate space for those who wish to daven in an egalitarian minyan that allows all Jews to enter the plaza via one entrance and then choose the site they wish. I know that to the American mind this hardly sounds like a revolution but, indeed, it is- for years non-orthodox Jews have been unable to hold services as they wished. The many conflicts between the Orthodox administration of the Kotel and groups such as Women of the Wall have been ugly- not the kind of conflicts that bring honor to our most sacred site in Jerusalem. By setting up an official space for non-orthodox services the government has both recognized the diversity of Jewish expression around the world and embraced it. No matter what your religious observance is you now can pray at the Kotel in the way that is most meaningful to you.

There are many steps to be taken before the plan can be fully implemented- construction of the plaza area, construction of a new entrance complex, and, of course, a plan to keep Jews and Moslems safe with the new set up. It will, no doubt, take time and money until the government can bring the new proposals to reality but, in the meantime, there is a universal recognition of the religious rights of all Jews.

The “new” Kotel plan holds a deeper message that we should appreciate. It is a lesson of Jewish history that sometimes gets lost in competing claims of validity and the ever allusive claims of “true Judaism.” Often times we defend our own “denominational” visions of Judaism to the exclusion of all others. The result of such a vision is the fragmentation of our people. That is why I would ask you to support and celebrate this recent decision regardless of what “label” you use to define your Jewishness. The recognition of diversity and pluralism is really the recognition of our unity. This paradox is simple to explain. There never was a time in which our customs were monolithic- even in Biblical times there were different traditions observed by various groups of Jews. In ancient (Talmudic) times the Jews of Babylonia had different customs than the Jews of Israel. Both had customs different than the Jews of Alexandria. To this day there are many differences in the customs of European Jewry and Middle Eastern Jewry. Throughout Jewish history such differences never divided us- they only served to remind us that, no matter what differences exist between communities, we are still one people. Even in diversity we all share in the same faith that the message of Torah and Jewish living is a blessing to ourselves and the entire world.


This article first appeared in the Los Angeles Jewish News

Walk It Back?


Each year the Lake Superior State University puts out a tongue-in- cheek list of “banished words,” words that are so over used or abused that they should disappear from our daily speech. Sometimes they are those annoying “buzzwords” that find their way into speech like “selfie.” These words can also be those quirky, made up words that refer to the latest hot item in pop culture. Among the 2016 list of words and phrases that we don’t need is the phrase “walk it back.” It seems like every discussion about politics or public policy now comes with the caveat that someone needs to “walk it back,”- to change or qualify something that he or she has said.

Now it’s a fad (or maybe a new way to talk)- you can say anything that is less than true, something that has no facts to back it up, or something that is said only for its shock value- if you get caught or challenged all you have to do is “walk it back,”- qualify it, add a nuance, or just say “that’s what I said but it’s not what I meant. “Walking it back” is the new eraser- say it but if you get it wrong just walk it back and try to get it right the second time. This is not the way to improve communication- it is the way to lie or misinform but have a back-up plan if needed. The University is right- we don’t need the phrase in 2016, but we need the phenomenon even less. In a perfect world none of us would ever need to “walk back” anything we say- publicly or in private.

A Jewish spin- Avot D’Rebbe Natan says in the name of Ben Azzai: Choose your words carefully so you will not cause people to stumble, make a fence for your words.” To me that fence would be built of wisdom and truth. If you use those criteria you never need to “walk it back.” Sometimes silence is better than saying the wrong thing. It is now a trite sounding truth that words do matter. Once something is said you can’t really take it back. Today, in the age of the internet, that is truer than ever- once something is out there in cyberspace, it is there forever. The net has created “immortality” of a new kind. Whether true or false, right or wrong our words now flash across the globe in seconds and what we have said takes on a life of its own.
In 2016 try not to say anything that you will want to walk back. Choose your words carefully. If, as individuals, we adopt that policy just maybe we can banish “walk it back” from our vocabulary. How much better for us and for public discourse!

Reprinted from my article in the Los Angeles Jewish News

New Battle, Old Enemy

There is an adage to the effect that those who don’t study history are condemned to re-live it. I always found a great deal of truth in that observation. As a Jew I live with a long history that warns me every day about the mistakes of the past. All too often, however, all of us choose to turn a blind eye to the past believing that this time, as we try something that’s already been tried, we can produce a different outcome. Then we are “shocked” when the result of our efforts result in the same failures that previous generations suffered. Jewish history is to be studied, nonetheless, not only for the warnings it reveals but also for the inspiration it provides.

What people has come through the darkest of times only to be reborn? What nation has stood longer on the stage of history and proved victorious? As we celebrate Hanukkah that lesson is the subtext of our celebration. Against all odds, against all expectations, we stood against a far greater foe to fight for our religious freedom and our national existence. The narrative of Hanukkah is filled with irony—we have studied history well but we are still condemned to re-live it. As we celebrate Hanukkah 5776 we are again at war over the Temple in Jerusalem. While terror attacked continue to threaten the physical well being of Israel, there is another war being waged- the war to rob the Jewish people of our history.

In accord with the “big lie” theory Muhammad Ahmad Hussein, the grand mufti of Jerusalem, did some creative re-writing of history. Hussein claimed that there had never been a Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount. He claimed that our holiest site had “always” been a mosque “since the world was created.” This is part of the new war on Israel- the war against Jewish history that seeks to deny our connection to the Land of Israel. It a larger context it seems to be a part of the new world history- destroy and deny all of pre-Islamic human history.

As we light the Hanukiyah we thank God for the miracles of the past. That we are even here to tell the story of Hanukkah is nothing less than a miracle, but we also light the candles to shed the light of truth into a world that can grow dark when lies become truth. In ancient times Antiochus sought to destroy Judaism by denying Jews the freedom to practice their religion. Today our enemies try to physically destroy us- to make Israelis live in constant fear. They also seek to destroy our souls by telling the world that our sacred history is a lie. Only those who already hate will believe such lies, but those who know the truth, those who have a stake in the Jewish past and the Jewish future are today’s Maccabees. Israeli’s are forced to fight for their lives but all of us must fight for truth.