Rabbi Arthur Weiner

Since the horrific attacks in Israel on October 7, I’ve been reading and watching as much as I possibly can about Israel’s current war with Hamas. I’m reading the American press, and I’m reading the Israeli press.  I’m watching the major networks, as well as the cable stations. I’m reading articles and editorials and opinion pieces by those who know a great deal about the conflict, and I am reading articles by others that demonstrate so little understanding of the events that I can’t imagine how they ever got past an editor. I’ve read things that should embarrass the people who wrote them. I’ve read and watched and followed the reporting of Israel’s friends and allies, and yes, I have read articles by those who hate Jews (though they rarely come out and say so), and who hate Israel. Though it is painful to read their words, it is important to understand what our enemies are saying and thinking.  After all, it was our blindness and inability (or should I say unwillingness) to understand

There is no such thing as a free lunch   I thought of this well-known saying as I watched the moving, heartfelt and incredible remarks that President Biden delivered from Israel on Wednesday morning. American presidents have visited Israel before. Every American president since Richard Nixon has both publicly and privately confirmed Israel's right to defend itself and supported these words with concrete action. Yet President Biden's words on Wednesday were on a whole new level. Just as he made a statement by traveling to Ukraine in the midst of a war to demonstrate his commitment to Ukraine and its future, he did the same this week for the people of Israel and Jews around the world. I will never forget the passion and emotion with which he spoke, or his clear and unambiguous identification of the unique role of Israel as a Jewish nation and a homeland for the Jewish people. His remarks articulated his commitment to Israel's right to defend itself, and of continued mili

It has often been said -- were the Arab armies to lay down their arms for a day, nothing would happen. But if Israel were to do so, the response would be brutal and immediate. Sadly, now we know that these words were not just rhetoric or a talking point or an expression of moral superiority. Now we know that this is a statement of fact. The only thing that may have surprised observers was how immediate and how savage that truth would be.   We are experiencing one of the darkest periods in modern Jewish history. I cannot claim any greater insight or understanding than those reading my message today. But I would like to at least add some perspective and context that is often missing despite the sympathy demonstrated toward Israel at this moment.   The events of this past week are the largest single loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust. They recall the violence of the Pogroms in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that sent so many of our grandparents to these shores. They are r

Today is Hoshana Rabbah , the special name for this seventh day of Sukkot . This name is connected to the lengthy series of Hoshanot , processions around the synagogue with our Lulavs and Etrogs that take place on this day.   On the six previous days of Sukkot, there was one such procession. Today, there are seven, hence Hoshana Rabbah , literally "The Great Hoshana." Yet there is another significant tradition associated with this day. Our Rabbis understood this last day of Sukkot as the final day of the High Holiday period. The 12 th century Sefer Hamanhig teaches "On Hoshana Rabbah, the closing of the books that were opened on Rosh Hashanah, and sealed on Yom Kippur, takes place." In the imagination of the Rabbis, the High Holiday season, while technically ending on Yom Kippur, "unofficially" ends today. So in these final few hours of the High Holiday season, I would like to share with you one last piece of High Holiday advice. We must always reme