“Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,With conquering limbs astride from land to land;Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall standA mighty woman with a torch, whose flameIs the imprisoned lightning, and her nameMother of Exiles. From her beacon-handGlows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes commandThe air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.“Keep, ancient lands, your […]

How fitting it is that, in our annual cycle of Torah reading, some part of the Exodus narrative always coincides with the celebration of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Some call the Exodus story the “master narrative” of the Jewish people because it tells the story of m’avdut l’herut-how a people can […]

This is a sermon about not giving in to despair. I know: You can’t imagine how I came up with this as a topic for my annual, Kol Nidre sermon. Here is a Jewish “despair” joke. A Jew accidently falls into a deep hole and can’t climb out. A philosopher walks by and says, “My […]