blogs/brentspodek

For the past 15 years, I’ve been honored to serve as the rabbi of this community, first in an informal gathering in my living room and then for the past 13 years, as the rabbi of Beacon Hebrew Alliance.

I’ve been proud to be the rabbi of this community at big public moments, such as Open to the Sky, visiting the White House and One Beacon; at communal moments in prayer, on Soul Strolls and in classes, and...Read more...

Dear Friends:

This is an incomplete and evolving list of resources* I’m drawing on for my own understanding of the current crisis in Israel and Palestine and the long painful history that precedes it. Feel free to share this with others, and if you have resources you think are worthwhile, please let me know at brent@beaconhebrewalliance.org.

To state what should be obvious, I don’t agree with...Read more...

It was such a blessing to be back in our communal home this past Friday, celebrating Shabbat together again!

My sabbatical in New Zealand for the first few...Read more...

In every generation, one must see oneself as if they had personally left Egypt.

These words may be familiar to us from the Passover hagaddah. On Passover, through our reenactment of the first Seder, we try to transport ourselves back in time to the Exodus. This is a bold but delightful exercise. Bold, because it’s hard to imagine living through such miracles and redemption, but delightful because at its core, the...Read more...

My wife should have been born on a small street in Rexingen, a small town in Germany’s Black Forest.

My...Read more...