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A Tale of Two CitiesIt happened in Jerusalem this week, in a religious neighborhood called Har Nof. It could easily have happened here – but did not. What happened at…

To Choose to Be JewishThis evening I am going to talk about two people. One of these people chose Judaism. The other person did not choose Judaism, but wished he…

“For I have chosen him so that he will instruct his children and his household after him that they may keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right…

We Are All ImmigrantsOne of the great pleasures of being a rabbi in Chicagoland is the opportunity to hear scholars from all parts of the world who come to our…

"Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what G-d and angels know of us." Thomas PaineSpeaking UpMonica Lewinsky was back in the news this week. She…

Our Promised LandYitzchak Epstein was the first to understand the challenge. Back in 1907, Epstein, a writer, linguist and pioneer in the instruction of Modern Hebrew, published an essay entitled…

Forgiving our Worst SelvesHad I been a rabbi in the Middle Ages, charged with the task of choosing a prayer that would open the services of the holiest day of…

Finding Spirituality in the Most “Unlikely” Places I used to wear my yarmulke on airplanes but I stopped a few years ago. Wearing my yarmulke would guarantee meeting some very…

Take Off Our ShoesLeon Wieseltier, the literary editor of the New Republic, wrote a book a number of years ago called Kaddish. It is a meditation on the year that…

Something momentous has happened in Naperville, and I want to share that with you this evening.  I have been attending a class called “Total Body Fitness” twice a week for…