Rabbi Arthur Weiner

How much should we pay to redeem unlawfully held prisoners? This is a particularly serious question as news reports earlier this week announced that the State Department is seeking a deal to free basketball superstar Brittney Griner and businessman Paul Whelan, who have both been held unlawfully in Russia. Ms. Griner has been held since January, and Mr. Whelan for over 3 years. The question of redemption of prisoners is one that I have been interested in for a long time. I have spoken about it on Shabbat at least 10 times over the past 20 years. I taught about it on Shavuot at our recent Tikkun Leil Shavuot in early June. I've given several public lectures on the subject over the years. I have spent a great deal of time studying the long Jewish legal tradition on this subject. Indeed, the original discussions of this question go back to the Mishnah , the first law code of the Rabbinic era, which was itself compiled almost 1900 years ago. That's how long Jews have been grapplin...

We are living at a time of appalling violence. Yet even in a nation that is struggling with an epidemic of crime and murder, the death of 53 migrants from South America in Texas last month stood out for its sheer horror. As you may recall, a tractor trailer filled with migrants was abandoned near San Antonio with its human cargo inside. Temperatures inside the truck topped 100 degrees. The truck lacked a functioning cooling system. 53 men, women and children were found dead. Another 10 were injured. I literally cannot comprehend how any human being, even criminals engaged in the vile enterprise of smuggling illegal immigrants across our southern border could be so indifferent to human life. Obviously, the people who would engage in this practice to begin with are among the worst that exist. But to leave them to suffer and die? How do you punish a crime like that? And how do you make the statement that this crime was so bad that it threatens the very order of our society, and we s...

This Sunday, July 17, 2022, is the observance  of Shivah Assar B'Tammuz ( 17th day of the Hebrew month of Tammuz ) . It is one of several minor fast days of the Jewish year. This day also marks the beginning of a three-week period leading to the observance of  Tisha B'Av , the 9th of Av, the day we remember the destruction of both the First and Second Temples. The 9 th  of Av is considered to be the saddest day of the Jewish Year. The Mishnah (Ta’anit 4:6) records five tragic events that happened on seventeenth of Tammuz: Five calamitous matters occurred to our forefathers on the seventeenth of Tammuz, and five other disasters happened on the Ninth of Av. On the seventeenth of Tammuz the tablets were broken by Moses when he saw that the Jews had made the golden calf The daily sacrifice (in the Temple) was nullified by the Roman authorities and was never sacrificed again The city walls of Jerusalem were breached The (Roman) general Apostemos pub...

This may be a strange way to start a Shabbat message, but here goes. I want you to start thinking about the High Holidays right now. Rosh Hashanah (September 25) begins 11 weeks from this Sunday night. Believe it or not, we are already working on High Holidays. You have all received your High Holiday ticket application (which we thank you in advance for returning to us soon). The office staff is reviewing our rather extensive High Holiday checklist to prepare the building. There is a lot to do, and we are in the process of doing it. But that's our problem. That's not what I'm asking you to think about right now. What I want you to think about right now is where you will be for the High Holidays this year. I want to say this as clearly and unambiguously as I possibly can. I want you to be here, in person, at the JCCP/CBT. The pandemic has been hard on religious institutions throughout America. Our congregation is no exception. We announced to the congre...