“Long live Europe, Am Yisrael Chai,” exclaimed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as she received an honorary doctorate from Ben-Gurion University last year. Her words were quickly decried on Twitter as imperialistic “racist Nazi slogans.” In 2015, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s current national security minister, was arrested on the

By Rabbi Nochum Mangel Chabad of Greater Dayton An old Jewish joke describes all Jewish holidays in a few words: “They tried to kill us. They failed. Let’s eat.” Just as our enemies were not the same, the way they tried to kill us was different as well. Our enemies

By Rabbi Shmuel Klatzkin, Chabad of Greater Dayton Servants of time are slaves of slaves, The servant of God alone is free, Therefore, when each man makes his choice, My soul says, ‘I choose God for me.’ This short poem, written by Yehuda HaLevi near a millennium ago, is about

Surprising spiritual advice from Lou Reed’s American-Jewish songbook By Rabbi Aubrey L. Glazer, Beth Abraham Synagogue “You can’t depend on your family you can’t depend on your friends You can’t depend on a beginning you can’t depend on an end” — Lou Reed, Busload of Faith (New York, 1989) Life

By Rabbi Karen Bodney-Halasz, Temple Israel As we move through the High Holy Days, we approach Yom Kippur with a sense of dread. We anticipate feelings of guilt and regret, in addition to hunger, because we know the time is upon us to look critically at ourselves. The task is

By Rabbi Haviva Horvitz, Temple Beth Sholom, Middletown Although it may be hard to believe, September is right in front of us! Do you know what that means? That means that the football season has just begun, and the baseball season is coming to an end soon. It also means

By Rabbi Levi Simon, Chabad of Greater Dayton The story is told about an important member of the Jewish community who passed away. His children received two envelopes, one to be opened upon his death and the other a week later. They opened the first envelope and read their father’s

By Rabbi Nochum Mangel Chabad of Greater Dayton In 2000, Friends of Chabad Lubavitch in Washington, D.C. organized an event called Celebration 50, commemorating 50 years of the Rebbe’s leadership. At one of the sessions, 50 Chabad rabbis representing the 50 states signed a citation of gratitude to present to

By Rabbi Cary Kozberg, Temple Sholom, Springfield I admit it. Since I first saw it as a kid, I have been a devotee of the 1956 film The Ten Commandments. Even as I came to realize the extreme liberties it takes with the biblical account (inaccuracies), what continues to recommend

By Rabbi Tina Sobo, Temple Israel How do we approach seemingly mythical, magical, or otherwise logically implausible creatures referenced in the Bible and rabbinic literature (Midrash, Mishnah, Talmud)? Using Natan Slifkin’s book, Sacred Monsters as a primary source, I explored this question in a recent lecture. One congregant asked why