July 24, 2026/10 Av 5786/Shabbat Va'Etchanan/Shabbat Nachamu Hevre/Friends, Welcome to the season of Jewish guilt! It began three weeks ago with the fast of the 17th of Tamuz, marking the day the Romans breached the walls of Jerusalem on their way to destroying the second Temple. That launched us into the "Three Weeks" of mourning restrictions: no live music, no haircuts, no weddings or B-Mitzvah celebrations (aka kosher caterers vacation). By the first of Av the mourning

July 17, 2026/3 Av 5786/Shabbat Devarim/Shabbat Chazon Hevre/Friends, Ever notice how eloquent you are in the shower? You finally have it out with your boss/spouse/child/friend and say what you've been wanting to say for so long: a perfectly balanced, articulate, reasoned presentation of your feelings and your perspective. Except they're not there to hear it. It's amazing how gifted and confident we all are as orators. When it matters least. Our ancient ancestors were n

July 10, 2026/25 Tamuz 5786/Shabbat Matot-Masei Hevre/Friends, Want to combat antisemitism? Here’s one recipe: Make a beautiful Shabbat lunch. Invite your whole family - in its full diversity. Keep a seat for someone who knows nothing about Jews except for what they read online or see on the street. Be your kind and gracious selves. Mix and observe. My mother and Sherry finally made it up north for the summer and we contracted a local caregiver to help my mother with her dimi

July 3, 2026/18 Tamuz 5786/Shabbat Pinchas Hevre/Friends, The human mind is trained to identify what's missing in a given image — an incomplete line, say, or a fragmented face — and to fill it in with imagined content so as to perceive the picture as whole. Think of the IBM logo, or the World Wildlife Fund panda. Psychologists call it the Gestalt principle of closure. On this auspicious weekend, bridging Canada Day (this past Wednesday) and America's 250th birthday, there

June 26, 2026/11 Tamuz 5786/Shabbat Chukat-Balak Hevre/Friends, I only lost him once when I failed to signal emphatically enough. And I only once caused him to crash into a barrier by skiing too close to it. Overall, it was a great day! For those of you who have been privileged to meet my step-son-in-law, Eitan, you know exactly who I mean. Legally blind following a devastating diagnosis of Retinitis Pigmentosa while serving as a lone soldier in the IDF more than ten years ag

June 19, 2026/4 Tamuz 5786/Shabbat Korach Hevre/Friends, Pride month. A time to celebrate. Diversity. Dignity. Freedom. All the more so this year, as the LGBTQ+ community continues to face rollbacks of hard-won freedoms. While trans people have been rendered the most vulnerable legally, medically, and socially, gays and lesbians are seeing workplace protections challenged and the stability of marriage equality grow more uncertain. Against this backdrop, an op-ed appea

June 12, 2026/27 Sivan 5786/Shabbat Sh'lach Hevre/Friends, Hallo from Berlin! Being in Berlin a second time creates a certain awkwardness for Andi and me. When we led a Rabbi on the Road trip here in 2014, our days were filled touring the major sites that testify to the thriving Jewish community that once flourished here — and to the murderous Nazi regime that destroyed it. We also met locals building what was then considered the world's fastest-growing Jewish community. Retu

June 5, 2026/20 Sivan 5786/Shabbat Beha'alotcha Hevre/Friends, As most of you know, travel lives at the heart of my mission — both physical and spiritual. Leaving one place to explore another, encountering new ideas, (re)connecting with different people, and returning transformed in our self-understanding: that's the essence of my own life's journey, and the ones I'm honoured to curate for others through Rabbi on the Road. But travel happens in so many different ways. I’m

May 29, 2026/13 Sivan 5786/Shabbat Naso Hevre/Friends, Whenever we have new guests at our Shabbat table, a question inevitably arises about the unusual shape of our family kiddush cup. (Cue the eye-rolling from our children, who have heard this story more times than they care to count.) A typical kiddush cup is cylindrical, requiring your fingers to curl around it as you lift and pass it for each person to sip. Ours — pictured below — is shaped more like a saucer, or a classi

Shavuot 2026/5786 Hevre/Friends, If you're following me on Instagram — and I really hope you are! — you'll have seen my two videos exploring why the Torah was given on a mountaintop rather than in a lush valley, or on the shores of a beautiful lake or sea. In them, I talked about the hard work of searching for the insights and wisdom, the truths and values that give our lives meaning and purpose — and how that search so often feels like an upward climb. About the courage we n

Friday May 15 2026/28 Iyyar 5786 Hevre/Friends, I read it. I panicked. I searched frantically for clarification. I fumed. I cried. The accusations of systematic rape and sexual abuse — including the use of dogs — in Israeli prisons, published in a New York Times Op-Ed by Nicholas Kristof this past Monday, were shocking, disorienting, and horrifying. Coupled with growing global — and Jewish — outrage over the violent actions of Hilltop Youth settlers against Palestinians

Friday May 8 2026/21 Iyyar 5786 Hevre/Friends/Amici, Of all the things I wish I could have packed for our Rabbi on the Road journey to Sicily and Calabria, it is our innocence I missed most—the days of wandering Italy concerned only with where to find our next gelato once the pasta had settled. Our travels were filled with breathtaking vistas, charming towns, extraordinary meals, deep conversation, daily learning, spirited Shabbat prayer, abundant laughter, and genuine ca

Friday May 1, 2026/14 Iyyar 5786 Hevre/Friends/Amici, Ciao dalla Sicilia! Hello from Sicily! Our Rabbi on the Road adventure has been filled with stunning landscapes, fascinating sites, and—let’s be honest—way too much gelato. Actually, there’s no such thing as too much gelato… Our group of 27 travelers and 4 staff is exploring Sicily through Jewish eyes, immersing ourselves in travel as a spiritual practice. After all, travel is a deeply authentic Jewish act. As Diane Ti

Wednesday April 24, 2026/7 Iyyar 5786 Hevre/Friends, We stood and sang “Acheinu” as they entered—the anthem for the hostages, carried by Jews around the world for 843 days, from October 7, 2023 until January 26, 2026, when Ran Gvili, z"l, the last hostage in Gaza, was brought home. On Monday morning, I was at the Heschel High School for what became one of the most powerful experiences of my life. Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin addressed our students about the unfathoma

Wednesday April 17, 2026/Rosh Chodesh Iyyar Hevre/Friends, What an extraordinary week it’s been. As I put the finishing touches on my teaching notes for our Rabbi on the Road journey to Sicily and Calabria—Andi and I set out for Italy next Monday—I found myself holding a sense of anticipation and excitement. And yet, as life so often reminds us, joy rarely arrives unaccompanied. That sense of anticipation was tempered by the deaths of two individuals who I’m grateful to ha

Wednesday April 10, 2026/23 Nisan 5786 Hevre/Friends, Everyone is talking about it: the Overview Effect. Author Frank White coined the phrase after interviewing several astronauts about the experience of seeing Earth from space. Against the vastness of the universe, they felt an overwhelming, life-changing sense of awe, oneness with humanity, and a humbling awareness of our planet’s beauty and fragility. In recent days, we’ve heard echoes of the Overview Effect as the astrona

Wednesday April 1, 2026/14 Nisan 5786/Pesach וְ הַלֻּחֹת מַעֲשֵׂה אֱלֹהִים הֵמָּה וְהַמִּכְתָּב מִכְתַּב אֱלֹהִים הוּא חָרוּת עַל הַלֻּחֹת, אַל תִּקְרָא חָרוּת אֶלָּא חֵרוּת, שֶׁאֵין לְךָ בֶן חוֹרִין אֶלָּא מִי שֶׁעוֹסֵק בְּתַלְמוּד תּוֹרָה. “The tablets were God’s work, and the writing was God’s writing, incised upon the tablets” ( Exod. 32:17 ). Do not read, “incised,” (harut), rather [read] “freedom” (herut)—for no person is truly free except the one who labors in Torah. (

Friday March 27, 2026/9 Nisan 5786/Shabbat Tzav Shabbat Hagadol Friends/Hevre, Thanks for pausing from your Pesach prep to share a moment of reflection with me as the holiday fast approaches and the paradox of this yomtov intensifies. How are we to celebrate our festival of freedom when we’re not feeling free? Millions of Israelis are still racing to shelters and figuring out how to bring their matzah balls and charoset with them should a siren interrupt their Seders. Jewish

Friday March 20, 2026/2 Nisan Adar 5786/Shabbat Vayikra אָדָ֗ם כִּֽי־יַקְרִ֥יב מִכֶּ֛ם קרְבָּ֖ן לַֽיהֹוָ֑ה מִן־הַבְּהֵמָ֗ה מִן־הַבָּקָר֙ וּמִן־הַצֹּ֔אן תַּקְרִ֖יבוּ אֶת־קרְבַּנְכֶֽם׃ When any of you presents an animal offering to God you shall choose your offering from the herd or from the flock. (Lev. 1:2) Hevre/Friends, “People are animals.” Impulsive. Volatile. Greedy. Power hungry. Violent. Who says so? Everyone. About everyone else. Sometimes legitimately. Sometimes

Friday March 13, 2026/24 Adar 5786/Shabbat Vayakhel-Pekudei Shabbat HaChodesh Hevre/Friends, Week after week, our ancient Torah narratives never fail to educate and inspire us as we navigate our modern world. Reeling from multiple violent attacks against North American Jewish communal institutions this last week makes the reflection prompted by this week’s double portion of Vayakhel-Pekudei truly haunting. In the spirit of this continuous revelation, I can’t help but imagine

Friday March 6, 2026/17 Adar/Shabbat Ki Tisa Shabbat Parah וַיַּ֣רְא הָעָ֔ם כִּֽי־בֹשֵׁ֥שׁ מֹשֶׁ֖ה לָרֶ֣דֶת מִן־הָהָ֑ר וַיִּקָּהֵ֨ל הָעָ֜ם עַֽל־אַהֲרֹ֗ן וַיֹּאמְר֤וּ אֵלָיו֙ ק֣וּם ׀ עֲשֵׂה־לָ֣נוּ אֱלֹהִ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֤ר יֵֽלְכוּ֙ לְפָנֵ֔ינוּ כִּי־זֶ֣ה ׀ מֹשֶׁ֣ה הָאִ֗ישׁ אֲשֶׁ֤ר הֶֽעֱלָ֙נוּ֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם לֹ֥א יָדַ֖עְנוּ מֶה־הָ֥יָה לֽוֹ׃ When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, the people gathered against Aaron and said to him, “Come, make u

“Forgetfulness leads to exile. Remembrance leads to redemption.” (Ba’al Shem Tov) Hevre/Friends, Shabbat Zachor. Time to remember the savage Amalekites who attacked us in the desert. To blot out their evil presence and power from the world. A biblical commandment for every Jew to hear and heed. Read just days before Purim when we retell the story of Esther and our people in ancient Persia (modern-day Iran) and the vicious Haman - a descendant of Amalek - who tried to destroy

Friday February 20, 2026/3 Adar 5786/Parashat Terumah Hevre/Friends, We’ve all had one. A flash of insight or discovery that brings us much-needed perspective; a revelation or epiphany that solves a serious, even existential, riddle with which we’ve been wrestling. “Aha” moments can happen anywhere, not only atop Mount Sinai where Moses is sitting right now in our Torah reading cycle - although, as a hiker, I agree that summit views can be revelatory. Years ago my yoga teach

Friday February 13, 2026/26 Sh'vat 5786/Parashat Mishpatim-Shabbat Shekalim Hevre/Friends, My daughter Nomi and I came to Costa Rica to celebrate her 25th birthday with four days in the jungle and the balance at a yoga resort. The precious days we’ve had together have gifted us so many opportunities for deep mother-daughter conversation and sharing; something we, thankfully, enjoy regularly with each other. But being away from the busy-ness of life and today’s chaotic world