October 1, 2026 A Shabbat Message from our Executive Director Rabbi Loren Sykes It was very quiet, as it always is at 5:30 am on Shabbat in Jerusalem. By 6:29 am, my dog, Hamilton, and I were back from our morning walk, my coffee was ready, and I was on the couch reading the Friday newspapers. […]
Finding Holiness in the Extraordinary, and the Mundane What is “holiness” for you? Do you think it is a quality that belongs to times, places, prayers, objects, or people that are special? I find inspiration in the words of Abraham Joshua Heschel, who wrote about our ability to perceive neutral moments in our lives as […]
September 29, 2026 STAY INFORMED – TALKING POINTS – ACTIONS – VOICES – STORIES MAKING NEWS Anti-Jewish Bias Puts Patients at Risk Healthcare is bound by a basic vow: do no harm. Across America, some doctors, nurses and therapists are breaking their oath and the law when the patient is Jewish or Israeli. Several of […]
Setting Time for Balance Z’man simḥateinu, “the season of our rejoicing”! What does such joy accomplish? In an agricultural society, the Sukkot festival is the pinnacle of rejoicing! At Passover and at Shavu‘ot, joy is mixed with worry: lurking dangers to the field crops, the grapes, and the fruits that have not yet been harvested. […]
September 24, 2026 A Shabbat Message from our Executive Director Rabbi Loren Sykes Shalom, Each week when choosing my subjects for writing, I try to balance Israeli creativity and innovation with inyanei d’yoma, current events; arts and culture with politics; and the ways the Masorti Movement enriches Israeli lives with the ways some Israelis, private citizens […]
September 23, 2026 STAY INFORMED – TALKING POINTS – ACTIONS – VOICES – STORIES MAKING NEWS Obsession with Israel Blinds the World to Widespread Suffering When rapper Macklemore was dropped from Ed Sheeran’s U.S. tour after accusing Israel of ‘genocide’ on stage, all other opening acts pulled out of the tour in solidarity. Sheeran said […]
The Process Shabbat Shuva — the Shabbat between Rosh haShanah and Yom Kippur — gets its name from the opening words of the haftarah: שׁוּבָה יִשְׂרָאֵל, “Return, O Israel to the Lord your G-d (Hosea 14:2).” The rabbis of the Talmud developed this Biblical idea into the value concept t’shuvah, repentance. Although in recent years […]
September 17, 2026 A Shabbat Message from our Executive Director Rabbi Loren Sykes Shalom! I spent the first few weeks in my new roles getting my bearings, including learning policies and procedures, organizational charts, and some institutional history. I dedicated significant time to listening to professional colleagues from MERCAZ and the Rabbinical Assembly in Israel and […]
September 15, 2026 STAY INFORMED – TALKING POINTS – ACTIONS – VOICES – STORIES MAKING NEWS UN & NGOs Hijacked Meetings to Launch Libel Campaign Against Israel Malicious accusations of genocide against Israel did not begin with the Hamas-Israel war. The 10/7 massacres were a catalyst in a conspiracy that began 25 years ago in […]
September 9, 2026 STAY INFORMED – TALKING POINTS – ACTIONS – VOICES – STORIES MAKING NEWS Moral Courage and Commemoration: Remembering 9/11 on Rosh Hashana This year marks the 25th anniversary of 9/11 – the largest terror attack on U.S. soil. The date also falls on the eve of Rosh Hashana – the beginning of […]