A Call To Love With All Our Hearts
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar This past Shabbat, we read the Torah portion in which the Sh’ma is found — perhaps the central liturgical moment in all of Jewish life. The Sh’ma is found in Sefer D’varim, the Book of Deuteronomy, during a speech in which Moses is addressing the Israelite people at the end of their journey together. The People […]
Tishah B’Av: Commemorating Exile, Embracing Wholeness
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Tishah B’Av is nearly upon us. Tishah B’Av, the ninth day of the Jewish month of Av, is the date on which the destructions of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem are commemorated. It is estimated that the first was destroyed in 587 BCE; the second in 70 CE. […]
War, Peace, and Sacrifice
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar I write on Day 657 of the war that started on October 7, 2023, a war that feels more interminable and heartbreaking by the day. At this point, nearly 75% of Israelis, “including 60% of people who voted for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, back an agreement with Hamas that would […]
What I’m Wrestling With — Israel, Gaza, and Antisemitism
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar When I have the time and space, I try to share with you my own personal wrestlings regarding two interrelated dynamics that have weighed heavily on our hearts for almost 21 months now: (1) war in Israel, Gaza, and around the Middle East, and (2) antisemitism as it shows up in […]
Israel and the Region Under Fire; A Prayer for Long-Term Peace
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar I write on the heels of a head-spinning week in the news: in the span of seven days, we had an American president deploy US Marines to an American city, raising alarm bells among legal observers around the country; in response, millions demonstrated peacefully under the aegis of “No Kings;” and […]