57 years ago today, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. shared these words with the world: “I have a dream this afternoon that my four little children will not come up in…
The holiday of Shavuot begins as the sun sets tomorrow evening. According to our tradition, on Shavuot, centuries ago, Moses climbed Mt. Sinai and received the Torah, the…
A Mother’s Day Tale/Midrash (originally posted Mother’s Day 2015) At the beginning of time, God created the plants and the trees, the Sun and the Moon. God created…
Rabbi Isaac Kook, one of the most important rabbis of the early 20th century, insisted that in order to truly love Israel, we must love, respect and honor…
As we celebrated Simchat Torah earlier this week, we began the Torah all over again, reading the following words: When God began to create heaven and earth, the…
Many of us have recently celebrated or are about to celebrate the graduation of children and grandchildren from high school, college and graduate school. While for some, letting…
When something in society is broken, we are obligated to fix it. It is a basic Jewish value, captured in the Torah: “Tzedek tzedek tirdof “ – “Justice,…
A short video I put together to answer lots of great questions I have received regarding Israel’s history and her borders. Not the most “exciting” video – but, hopefully,…
Mr. Patrik Nilsson, PresidentAdidas Group of North America5055 N. Greeley AvenuePortland, OR 97217jan.runau@adidas-group.comDear Mr. Nilsson, I am writing to you as a rabbi, but more importantly, as a…
The circus comes to town this weekend as we prepare to celebrate Tu B’Shevat (on January 16th) – the new year of trees. On Tu B’Shevat in ancient…
Sorry for the delay in posting items to the blog. Still recovering from a wonderfully busy “holiday season”. Here is my podcast on Cain and Abel. Will be…