Chevre, Rosh Hashana is almost upon us. Friday night, we will gather within our own community and, additionally, with Jews around the world. Likewise, we join ourselves to the generations of Jews that have come before us. And we take our place as a transition to the...

Chevre, In past weeks I’ve written about the importance of knowing our selves as well as the God – however we understand that – before Whom we stand; about freedom and authenticity coming through intentional choice; and creating a fertile environment in which an...

Chevre, In my last two blogs, I wrote more globally, or theoretically, about living life with intention. With this post, I want to focus on what I think are three first, good steps in that direction: making the decision; opening up; engaging in self-reflection. These...

Chevre, To understand what it means to live b’chavana, with intention, let’s consider the opposite: doing things by rote; living on autopilot; habit without awareness. Being satisfied with the same-old, same-old. Not thinking, never mind not thinking outside of the...

Chevre, When first I shared my vision for this community with you, I explained that I chose the name B’Chavana – intentional – because I wanted this to be a community designed with intent and because I wanted to support people in their desire to live lives of meaning....

Chevre, “The sword comes into the world, because of justice delayed and justice denied” (Pirkei Avot 5:8) “Man bites dog,” they say, will make the newspapers; “dog bites man” will not. And if “man bites dog” appears frequently in the newspapers it becomes another “dog...

Chevre, Recently, I received an email from a colleague whom I respect and esteem. He invited me to join “Rabbis for Biden,” whose goal is to “help Joe Biden become President of the United States.” Even though I think Mr. Biden is the better candidate, I will not be...

Chevre, If you believe that the Ten Commandments are an essential element of being Jewish and/or a good person . . . what’s the second one? The first one is “I, Adonai, am your God, having brought you out of Egyptian slavery.” (Exodus 20:2) And the second? “You shall...

Chevre, I write today in favor of the American government giving reparations to African American descendants of enslaved people. Jews and Reparations We, Jews, know of reparations. The year I first lived in Israel, I was stunned: every bus, every taxi was a Mercedes....

Chevre, Last Rosh Hashana I spoke about the scourge of American racism. Since then, we have discussed some of the issues at Shabbat gatherings, read books and viewed films. I have continued my own learning and sharing some of that via these blog posts. I hope that you...