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New Commandments We Sorely Need #614

02/14/2020 05:00:00 PM

Feb14

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

New Commandments We Sorely Need

This past week, one of our Hebrew school students — a brilliant but sometimes mischievous lad— was sent to my office to have a “talk with the rabbi.”

I adore this child for his brilliance, his penchant for asking great questions and his ability to retain information. But this past week, the imp within him rose to the surface.

He placed a tack on his teacher's chair — and well, you can...Read more...

The Torah In One Sentence #613

02/07/2020 05:00:00 PM

Feb7

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Pirkei Avot The Torah in One Sentence

Hardly a day has passed since I became a rabbi that someone has not introduced themselves by saying, “Rabbi, I'm really not that religious.” Frequently, as I meet with a family before eulogizing a mother or father, I hear, “He (or she) didn't believe in religion, still, they...Read more...

Children And Elders Together #612

01/31/2020 05:00:00 PM

Jan31

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Children and Elders Together

About 25 years ago, while attending a public meeting in Fort Chipewyan — a First Nations community in northern Canada — I experienced what it truly means to “honor your elders.”

Seven or eight seniors, each holding the hand of a teenage grandchild, were led to the first two rows of the community hall and were seated.

The section was clearly marked — “for the elders” — and at...Read more...

My Holocaust Oversight #611

01/24/2020 05:00:00 PM

Jan24

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

My Holocaust Oversight

Jewish tradition holds that sometimes God winks at us, but we’re not ready to notice.

One of God’s greatest and persistent winks occurred for me between 1973 and 1974.

It was my first time away from home. While it is customary for American students to “go away to college,” in Canada, high school grads usually attend local universities — living at home, taking advantage of quality, but...Read more...

Antisemitism Then and Now #610

01/17/2020 05:00:00 PM

Jan17

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Rabbi Huberman is currently in Canada presiding at the funeral af a senior family member. Attached is the D'var Torah (Words of Torah) written earlier this week for his Seminary, the Academy for Jewish Religion.

 

A D'var Torah for
Parashat Shemot
by Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Antisemitism Then and Now

There is a gnawing question that has plagued many commentators, as we witness in this week’s Torah portion, what...Read more...

My Dad's Lost Poems #609

01/11/2020 04:30:00 PM

Jan11

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

My Dad’s Lost Poems

It was in my teenage years, while rustling through some boxes, that I discovered a gold covered loose-leaf binder that apparently had been buried in the basement for decades.

As I slowly opened the cover, and began reading the pages, it occurred to me that these were verses put to pen perhaps 20 years earlier by my father. Yes, my father.

I was dumbstruck. This was my dad, who — as a child — I...Read more...

Is Anti-Semitism Just Us? #608

01/04/2020 04:30:00 PM

Jan4

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Is Anti-Semitism Just Us?

As we complete a week of profound pain within the Jewish community, it has been all too easy to articulate a familiar narrative:

“The world hates the Jewish people. Anti-Semitism has, and will always be. We are alone and there is no answer.”

In the days following the tragedies in Jersey City and Monsey, there were many condemnations. Leaders — both secular and religious—raced to the...Read more...

What Is Your Dream? #607

12/28/2019 04:30:00 PM

Dec28

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

What is Your Dream?

Has there ever been a time in your life when you've dreamed of a better job, a better life, a better future?

Who did you share that dream with — and did they support you, or did they try to stop you in your tracks?

Theodore Herzl believed in dreams. He wrote in 1896, as he envisioned a Jewish homeland, that “if you will it, it is no dream.”

The Torah believes in dreams. It is an incredible...Read more...

Choosing Light Over Darkness #606

12/20/2019 04:30:00 PM

Dec20

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Choosing Light Over Darkness

Is it just me, or does the world seem a little darker these days?

The weather is dreary. There is less light. The cold makes it more difficult to move from place to place. Even our political climate appears mired in darkness.

But just when we feel that the world is closing in, a Jewish holiday emerges, reminding us that one light, one flame, one positive act can help...Read more...

What The Word "Israel" Means #605

12/13/2019 04:30:00 PM

Dec13

Rabbi Irwin Huberman

Parashat Vayishlach  “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel.” (Genesis 32:29) What the Word “Israel” Means

If you are looking for easy answers about life, then you've come to the wrong religion.

Where was God during the Holocaust? Could God have prevented 9/11? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do so many evil individuals seem to prosper?

Each of us asks many unanswerable questions every...Read more...

Sat, November 8 2025 17 Cheshvan 5786