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I Am A Jew — with Israel #679

06/04/2021 11:44:55 PM

Jun4

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Parashat Beha'alotecha I Am A Jew — with Israel

I am a Jew.

I’ll tell you what that means to me.

Being a Jew connects me with a 4,000-year-old tradition to seek justice within an often-unjust world.

Being a Jew is to draw on a history dating back to the time of slavery in Egypt and reminds me — through the DNA of a storied people — to ensure that no one under my immediate or extended watch is ever...Read more...

Anti-Semitism — Do We Say Something? #680

06/04/2021 04:11:00 PM

Jun4

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Parashat Sh'lach Lecha

“Let us by all means go up and we shall gain possession of it, for we shall surely overcome.” (Numbers 13:30).

Anti-Semitism — Do We Say Something?

Is there anyone among us who has not heard — in our travels, at work or in social circles — the phrase “Jew you down?”

Often, congregants come into my office feeling uneasy — or even guilty that — despite having heard the phrase...Read more...

I Am A Jew — with Israel #679

05/28/2021 05:47:00 PM

May28

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Parashat Beha'alotecha I Am A Jew — with Israel

I am a Jew.

I’ll tell you what that means to me.

Being a Jew connects me with a 4,000-year-old tradition to seek justice within an often-unjust world.

Being a Jew is to draw on a history dating back to the time of slavery in Egypt and reminds me — through the DNA of a storied people — to ensure that no one under my immediate or extended watch is ever...Read more...

What Has God Done for You Lately? #678

05/21/2021 06:06:00 PM

May21

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Parashat Naso What Has God Done for You Lately?

In a previous life, I worked as a communications consultant, which required me to travel weekly to and from a small community, north of the city where we lived.

I quickly achieved ranking as a frequent flyer, and one of the fringe benefits of that status was to receive a light meal during the one-hour flight to and from home.

This usually consisted of a dry smoked turkey...Read more...

Abraham — The Holocaust — and Numbers #677

05/14/2021 05:08:00 PM

May14

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Parashat Bamidbar

"Take a census of the whole Israelite community" (Numbers 1:2)

Abraham — The Holocaust — and Numbers

There was a mystery within my former congregation as to why an elder — let’s call him Abraham — always asked to be called to the Torah on the Shabbat morning coinciding with the reading of B’reshit — Genesis — the first section of the Torah.

For many years,...Read more...

The Torah and the Sacred Earth #676

05/07/2021 06:30:00 PM

May7

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Parashat B'har/B'chukotai

“In the seventh year, the land shall have a Sabbath of complete rest…It shall be year of complete rest for the land.” (Leviticus 25:5-6)

The Torah and the Sacred Earth

It was sweltering summer afternoon that day in 2017, as our Israeli tour bus parked along the edges of a farmer’s field.

As was the case in each of our congregational tours to Israel, we parked at the edge of a...Read more...

Prince Philip and "The Incident" #675

04/30/2021 03:00:00 PM

Apr30

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Parashat Emor

“You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.” Exodus 19:6

Prince Philip and "The Incident"

The photo is buried somewhere in a box. I’m sure one of these years it will turn up.

It was taken on May 24, 2005, during a British royal tour of Canada, and in some ways it created a mini incident.

That morning, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip found themselves in the Alberta...Read more...

Zoom or in-Person: What Do You Choose? #674

04/23/2021 06:41:00 PM

Apr23

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Parashat Achrei Mot/Kedoshim Zoom or In-Person: What Do you Choose?

“What will Judaism look like after Covid?”

That question — among others — keeps coming up in our congregation during this unprecedented time of “virtual religion.”

Is Zoom religion here to stay? What role will synagogues play? What have we learned during the past year as we have seen attendance at Zoom services surge...Read more...

Gossip and Life After Death #673

04/16/2021 05:50:00 PM

Apr16

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Parashat Tazria-Metzora Gossip and Life After Death

Perhaps the most frequently asked question in Judaism is: “What happens to us after we die?”

If only we knew. And, like most questions within Judaism, our rabbis have posited as many answers as there are “stars in the sky.”

But one answer touches me perhaps more than any other. And it comes from one of our greatest Kabbalistic masters, Rabbi Isaac...Read more...

Ethics of Eating and Shopping #672

04/09/2021 04:00:00 PM

Apr9

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Parashat Shemini "These are the instructions concerning animals, birds, all living creatures that move in water, and all creatures that swarm on earth." (Leviticus 11:46) Ethics of Eating and Shopping

About 45 years ago, I left my home and my family in suburban Montreal to chase my dream of becoming a newspaper reporter — in the northern Canadian community of Fort McMurray.

To that point, I had lived only in a kosher...Read more...

Sun, November 24 2024 23 Cheshvan 5785