blogs/brentspodek

Those of us who are white skinned Jews live in a liminal space in the American racial hierarchy. 

Sometimes - driving our car, walking through a store - we present as white and reap the unearned benefits of white skin privilege.  

Other times, we are deeply aware of the fact that while we are not oppressed in the way that black and brown people often are, we are vulnerable in ways...Read more...

One of the strange peculiarities of contemporary Jewish life is that while in America, I am a rabbi and I teach Judaism, in Israel, I am not a rabbi and what...Read more...

I like to davven in the forest, on the mountains, in the wild. The presence of the Creator somehow seems closer there, perhaps because my to-do list seems further away.

Of course, as peak experiences go, nothing compares to the experience that the Israelites...Read more...

There is a painful, tragic gap between who we are and who we imagine ourselves to be. 

We stand in that gap as individuals, we stand in that gap as families, and we stand in that gap as a nation. 

We see ourselves as fit, yet the scale tells us otherwise. 

We see ourselves as kind, yet the pain in our loved ones eyes tells us otherwise.

We see ourselves as...Read more...

As we move into 2021, it is more important than ever that we tend to the social fabric of our community. I have been so heartened by the many folks from our community who have contributed to Beacon Mutual Aid, the Hudson Valley Food Bank and American Jewish World Service in the closing days of 2020. 

The Torah teaches that “One who oppresses the poor blasphemes the Creator, and one that is gracious to the...Read more...