Tribute to Rabbi Avi, my Mentor and Friend
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar I’ve been waiting a long time for this opportunity—the opportunity to pay tribute to a cherished mentor and a dear friend, Rabbi Avi Winokur. The annals of synagogue histories are replete with stories of contentiousness between Senior Rabbis and Rabbis Emeritus. Not here. Not with Rabbi Winokur. No one with his […]
What the Shabbat Prayers May Be Saying
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Many of you have heard me say it a million times by now. “Now is the time of the silent offering of the amidah, the offering of the heart. You’re invited to offer up whatever prayers you have using the words on the page or the words of your heart.” […]
A Bar Mitzvah Student Grapples with the Scapegoat • (Im)purity: Alienation vs Integration
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Dear Friends, This Shabbat, we celebrated the Bar Mitzvah for Elias Zaring. Elias’s parashah, as will be discussed below, was the double portion of achareit-mot/kedoshim, two portions in the midst of the book of Leviticus that include the portion that is read each year on Yom Kippur, involving the ritual of “the […]
Yom Hazikaron | Israel at 75 | Yom Hashoah
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Yom Hazikaron – Memorial Day This evening, Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day, (whose full official name is Yom Hazikaron Lehalelei Ma’arkhot Yisrael Ul’nifge’ei Pe’ulot Haeivah/Memorial Day for the Fallen Soldiers of the Wars of Israel and Victims of Actions of Terrorism) begins. It is followed immediately tomorrow night with the beginning […]
The Omer: counting the in-between moments
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Dear Friends, Here are the remarks I delivered this past Friday at services on a special Jewish ritual at this time of year: *** A ritual that we’re called upon to engage with at this time of year—a mitzvah, a sacred act that we’re called upon to fulfill—is sefirat haomer, the counting of […]