While last Shabbat could have been called “Groundhog Shabbat,” this coming weekend marks the first of a series of “named” Sabbaths to help us prepare for the holiday of Passover. Shabbat Shekalim is followed in short order by Shabbats Zachor,…

As I compose this quarterly message about my rabbi-ing adventures, we’ve left the month of Elul far behind. The rabbis have traditionally encouraged self-examination and reflection starting on Rosh Hodesh Elul. I intensified my focus on High Holidays by leading…

Dear Friends: Today marks the saddest day on the traditional Jewish calendar, the observance of Tisha B’Av.  This 25-hour fast is as difficult to observe as Yom Kippur (maybe even more difficult because it occurs when temperatures are higher and…

Dear Friends: We just passed the halfway point in the Omer, our annual countdown to Shavuot and the anniversary of receiving the Torah at Mt. Sinai, and I feel grateful as I count all the wonderful and diverse rabbinic opportunities…

Dear Friends: My last three rabbinic months have been busy but generally joyous, and I write this latest installment of roughly quarterly missives to you before the crunch of Purim and Passover. “Generally” but not exclusively joyous – the shortest…

Dear Friends: Rabbis around the world love Cheshvan, the month we have just begun, because it has NO HOLIDAYS!!  This past month was quite busy, as expected, with High Holidays at the Los Alamos Jewish Center, the congregation to whom…

Dear friends: Let me begin this next installment in my series of ~quarterly rabbi-ing updates by thanking the many people who responded to my pre-Pesach missive. All of your ideas for improving these e-mails were read carefully, and I hope…

Dear friends: As one of the special Jewish people in my life, you are a recipient of this message, the first in what I hope will be an ongoing, ~quarterly series of updates on my rabbi-ing (OK, not a real…