Rabbi Nathan's blog

This past March I had the privilege of attending the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association convention held in Atlanta. At the tail end of the convention, I was able to join a smaller group of rabbis on a side trip to Montgomery, Alabama to learn more about the African American experience in our country, from enslavement to the Jim Crow era, and the fight for civil rights. Two particular moments from that experience stood out for...Read more...

As we enter into our post Holidays month of Heshvan, it is important to take a moment to share gratitude and thanks for all of the people who have helped make our holidays so meaningful and enriching. We thank those whose work may not often be seen ‐ those who shopped, moved chairs, dropped off Mahzorim, created materials, transported and put out food, cleaned up, made music, sang, read poetry and chanted Torah, got our Zoom and sound...Read more...

As we move into the Hebrew month of Elul, the month preceding our High Holy Days, may we each take in the message that turning toward wholeness in the world begins with turning toward wholeness in our hearts. May we each be strengthened in this work, held in each others' love and God's love to do this important work. And may our individual efforts toward wholeness contribute towards a larger wholeness in the world. 

In the Israeli calendar Israeli Memorial Day and Independence Day are consecutive commemorations. This year they fall on May 13 and May 14 respectively. This is not accidental. The cost of Israeli lives in its struggle for independence in 1948, about 1% of its population at the time, linked the loss and celebration, each as inextricable pieces of a whole. Much like any Jewish ceremony ‐ like breaking a glass at a wedding ‐ it is often our...Read more...

After the dramatic story of the Exodus from Egypt and the receiving of the Ten Commandments at Sinai, the Torah portions in the latter part of the book of Exodus cover a tremendous amount of details concerning the material requirements for designing and building the desert Tabernacle, the mobile sanctuary that accompanied the Israelites on their wilderness journeys.

One of the takeaways from this description is simply the...Read more...