About six years ago, when my oldest daughter was about twelve or thirteen, she looked at me one day and said, “Daddy, I have finally figured out what you do for a living.” Now, let me preface this by saying that I started working at the Jewish Federation shortly after she was two years o…
In all of my almost forty-eight years, I cannot remember a time when so much was happening all at once. From COVID and all of the various impacts it has continued to have on our lives, even as we are now at the start of the third year, to the turmoil and devastation in Ukraine over the last …
Whether it is because of the war raging in Ukraine, the unbelievable rise of antisemitism being felt all over the world, its juxtaposition to this past weekend’s Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day (April 24), or any number of other reasons, I feel that this year’s Yom HaShoah is drawing m…
Freedom is defined as 1) the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint; 2) absence of subjection to foreign domination or despotic government; 3) the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved. I have been thinking a lot about this word, freedom, the…
As you might imagine, security has been at the forefront of my mind as of late, and for good reason. Actually, it has never really left my mind. You might say it comes with the territory as a leader within the Jewish community. However, let me ask you a question, and be honest… how often …
I hope your Passover has gone well for you thus far. Although we are only at the halfway point of the holiday, I want to turn my attention to the next event on our calendar… Yom HaShoah. This year’s Holocaust commemoration will begin next Wednesday, April 27 at sundown and run through Th…
I am going to start this week’s column off with a pop quiz. Name the Jewish holiday that is celebrated by more Jews, based on percentage, than all of the other holidays. If you guessed Passover you are correct. While it may seem that Hanukkah would be the one Jewish holiday that more peopl…
Growing up, I distinctly remember hearing people talk about how fast time goes. As a child (or even as a teen), I didn’t quite understand it because to me, time moved very, very, very slow… or at least so it seemed. Partly that was because my attention was on things that seemed to always…
I often think back to my experiences growing up in my small hometown of Danville. There were not many Jews living in any one specific area in the cities east of Oakland. It was similar to the experience I know many of us feel. I remember packing extra matzah during Passover so my classmates …
Over the weekend, my wife was filling something out and was asked what her favorite season was. It made me stop and think for a minute because I hadn’t given much thought to this for quite a while. And after thinking for a moment I realized, like my wife, my favorite season is Spring. And …
Purim has always been one of the most fascinating of our holidays. I was blown away when I learned that not only is the story not found in the Torah, but it is the only book in the Hebrew Bible that does not include G-d in it. How could a holiday that is so widely celebrated, replete with sp…
So much has been going on these last couple of weeks, it is really hard to keep up. In case you missed it, here is a short recap: President Biden gave his first State of the Union Address, Major League Baseball canceled the first several games of their season due to the lockout, the 2022 Win…
At the end of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Ferris, played by Matthew Broderick, says, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” That is how I have been feeling as of late. There is so much happening in the world right now it is alarm…
When we look back at the pandemic, there will be many things that we will remember and take away from our experience. Some will most definitely cause us some pain in reliving it, while others may serve as reminders for us and may even bring us some warmth. Bear with me while I explain what I…
Over the last few weeks, this column has been focused on security due to the rise in antisemitism not only the American Jewish community has experienced, but also all across the world. While this rise is unprecedented here in the US, it has remained unclear to many as to how we can not only …
