Rabbi Arthur Weiner

  I received a heart-breaking email this morning from the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, the umbrella organization of conservative synagogues in North America. It was an update about the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Jewish communities in the eastern part of the country. Allow me to share a passage from the email. "Kharkiv, a city in northeastern Ukraine is only 100 kilometers from the border with Russia, and has been the hardest hit so far, experiencing explosions in the early hours of this morning. Entrances and exits to the city, as well as schools have already been closed and the Russian army is getting closer. We are trying to get all of our communities in Ukraine to our western most community in Chernivtsi, as it is the safest option right now, where Rabbi Reuven and Lena Stamov, our shlichim (representatives) in Ukraine are currently with their family. They are organizing immediate transport, and reserving accommodations for refugees fleeing f...

I haven’t watched a minute of the Olympics this year. That is new for me.   As a child, I couldn’t wait for the Olympics to begin. Some of my most thrilling sports watching moments were spent watching the Olympics. Shira and I bought our first flat screen TV, something that we had put off even after flat screen TV’s became “a thing” to better enjoy the 2012 Olympics in London. To this day, I still think the “miracle on ice,” the US Olympic Hockey team’s victory over the Russians at the 1980 games in Lake Placid was the greatest sports event I ever experienced. I used to love it. That’s all changed. I’m not the only one that feels this way either. Many media analysts have noted a steep drop in the number of Americans watching the Olympics this year. It’s the lowest on record, and for good reasons. So many fans were appalled by the awarding of the Olympic games to China in 2008 and to Russia in 2014. And of course, we were further appalled by the awarding of the games to China agai...

  I hope that some of those reading my Shabbat message this week will remember that each year, we participate in Evolution Weekend. Evolution Weekend, or Evolution Shabbat is the brain child of a Jewish scientist at the University of Michigan who, along with many of his colleagues (who are both involved in their respective churches and synagogues and are world class scientists) are concerned about the discord between religion and science in America. I share this concern.   So Evolution Shabbat is an opportunity to talk about the importance of science, and to remind ourselves that religion and science should not and must not be at war with each other. Over 400 congregations throughout America will devote time this weekend to talk about this issue. For over 10 years, we have been among them, because ….. well let me tell you a story. Did you know that I was a science major?   Yes, I have been here for 26 years so many of you have heard the punch line of this joke many ti...

  Have you been following the Whoopi Goldberg scandal that resulted in her being suspended as a host of The View ? If you haven't, this message may not make much sense to you. If you have, I hope my comments will add something to your understanding and perspective on this entire affair. If you haven’t been following this, and need a quick overview of the controversy, this article should help: https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2022/01/31/whoopi-goldberg-holocaust-the-view/9291405002/ Earlier this week the subject and very meaning of the Holocaust came up among the hosts of The View amidst a discussion of the Holocaust themed graphic novel, Maus . This Pulitzer Prize award winning book was recently banned by a school district in Tennessee. This decision was widely condemned. But during the discussion, Whoopi Goldberg made several comments about the Holocaust, suggesting that it was an example of "man's inhumanity to man" and not racial ...