July 30, 2020
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Jewish sleepaway camp provided many of today’s adults with their first Tisha B’Av experience. There they sat on the floor of the Beit Am (communal building), watched interpretive dance, listened to the camp choir, or slept off a fast in the heat of the afternoon sun. They learned that we mourn and fast on Tisha B’Av because the […]
Continue readingJuly 14, 2020
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My eyes pine away from affliction; I call to You, O LORD, each day; I stretch out my hands to You” (Psalm 88:10) The Minnesota Rabbinical Association calls on our governor, lieutenant governor, and elected leaders to put in place all reasonable measures that will help our community reduce the spread of COVID-19, particularly by […]
Continue readingJune 25, 2020
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The Jews stranded in Ethiopia have been promised authorization to make Aliyah for decades.
Continue readingJune 19, 2020
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Dear Friends, As the pain of George Floyd’s (z”l) murder still reverberates throughout the Twin Cities, America, and the World, we particularly want to express our love to BIPOC (Black, Indigenous People of Color) Jews within our community. You matter to us. As rabbis we want both those affiliated and those not affiliated with congregations […]
Continue readingJune 17, 2020
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Juneteenth should be far more well-known than it is, especially among Jews – I wrote about just as much already one year ago. On June 19, 1865, then-commander of the District of Texas, Gen. Gordon Granger, publicized General Order No. 3 to enslaved African-Americans in Texas. Invoking the then two-and-a-half-year-old Emancipation Proclamation, this order began […]
Continue readingJune 16, 2020
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We speak unanimously as the 42 rabbis of the Minnesota Rabbinical Association (MRA) to oppose any unilateral annexation of the West Bank.
Continue readingMay 30, 2020
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On Saturday afternoon, Adath Jeshurun Congregation Rabbi Aaron Weininger, co-chair of the Minnesota Rabbinical Association, was one of the many faith leaders that spoke at Gov. Tim Walz’s press conference to discuss the protests and riots in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd on Memorial Day. The video is courtesy of MPR News.
Continue readingMay 12, 2020
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Lag BaOmer (the 33rd day of the Counting of the Omer) would be at the top of my list of little-known Jewish holidays. When I refer to holidays like Chanukah or Yom Kippur, people frequently understand the reference. When I mention the Counting of the Omer, there is much less familiarity. The Torah charges the […]
Continue readingApril 14, 2020
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One thing is for certain: next year will not be like this year, just as this year is not like last year.
Continue readingApril 1, 2020
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Over the past several weeks, amidst a daily changing situation, the members of the Minnesota Rabbinical Association have been thinking deeply about how we can fulfill our rabbinic responsibility to honor the dead (k’vod hamet), comfort the mourners, (nichum aveilim), and protect the community (pikuach nefesh). The scientific and medical communities have made it clear […]
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