Confidence in Conservative Judaism

This year I was lucky enough to attend and present at the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism’s Centennial Conference. It was truly an amazing experience and a Yasher Koach to all those who put it together. On the heels of the craziness (and some would say depression) of the Pew Research survey, I experienced a room full of over 1,200 participants excited to learn, over a hundred teenagers welcoming in the conference by singing with Jewish pride, and an authentic reflection of 100 years of the USCJ and the future of Conservative Judaism.

Written by on 23rd October 2013

Where Was Sandy? The Koufax Midrash

n 1965 a story formulated that for many Jews is on par with biblical magic. The story states that on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar (to most Jews anyway), the greatest baseball pitcher of all-time, Sandy Koufax, put religion before baseball and sat out the first game of the World Series. Most Jews, baseball fans or people with access to the Internet have heard this story. Jewish religious school teachers always teach this story in their classrooms this time of year. But this article is not about whether Koufax pitched or did not pitch, we have an answer to that; the question is if Koufax was not on the mound on October 6th 1965, then where was he?

Written by on 13th September 2013

Pop Parsha: Al Franken and Nitzavim

Words of Torah before Sen. Franken at the Jewish Federation of St. Paul’s Gala. Will the high holidays be just a moment of repenting before we go about our everyday business? Or something more?

Written by on 14th September 2012