Aheinu — Holding Space for One Another
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar One English word used today to describe the work of a rabbi is “pastoral.” Pastoral is a word whose origins derive from the nomadic, shepherding origins of our people, and today it refers to a form of accompaniment — to, as Rabbi Dayle Friedman writes, offering “a spiritual presence to people […]
It’s Just Us
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar We need your help. When I first applied to rabbinical school back in 2013, operating as I was from something of the periphery of the Jewish community, I did not imagine that, post-rabbinical school, I would be the rabbi of a synagogue. The conventional wisdom at the time (and in some […]
The Election and Our Shared Resilience
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar As I’ve written about before, to be Jewish, to be in relationship to the Jewish people, entails a Jewish identity that is concerned not exclusively with traditionally “religious” considerations, but with the grand sweep of history, too: with the way in which the Jewish people and the loved ones in relationship […]
Shabbat as Our Anchor and Honoring Our Community
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar We’re in the middle of a trying week, with a highly consequential election nearly upon us, settling down from the rhythms of the Jewish holiday season back into the traditional rhythms of our year where, week in and week out, the primary anchor we have as a spiritual community, to quiet […]
Sukkot, Voting, and the Call to Build a Better World Together
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar We are amidst the joyous season of Sukkot — Sukkot is Zman Simhatenu (literally: the time of our joy), the season which immediately follows the Yamim Nora’im, the Days of Awe, or, alternatively, the Days of Intensity. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are days that are felt intensely: we gather, we […]