Rabbi Arthur Weiner

I’ve explained to the congregation how in a very real sense, the day after Tisha B’Av, the fast day of the Ninth of Av, is a good time to start thinking about the High Holidays.   But we don’t.     But now is different.   This coming Tuesday and Wednesday, right after the Labor Day weekend is Rosh Chodesh Elul . When the new Hebrew month begins, we are thirty days from Rosh Hashanah.   Our Rabbis wanted us the remember that and think about what that means.   So they instituted several rituals and observances to ensure that, ready or not, willing or not, we start thinking about the great ideas of the High Holiday period, and how they apply to our lives.   They literally force us to do so. When Elul begins, we add the 27 th Psalm to the daily liturgy each morning and evening.   This Psalm is added to help us focus on some of the great themes of the High Holiday season in a way that our regular Shabbat and daily prayers do not.   We need to...

I knew it had to happen. I just did not expect it so soon. Once again, a prominent member of the clergy offered an endorsement of a candidate running for elected office, this time Vice President Kamala Harris. About two weeks ago, Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt told a gathering of the Jewish Democratic Council of America that "…. I could tell you that Jews need to elect Vice President Kamala Harris because our sacred texts tell us to build a world where we feed the hungry, care for the sick, ……………Those are her values” In other words, God wants you to vote for Kamala Harris.   That may not be a fair assessment of her remarks.   But I am sure that there are plenty of other values in those same sacred texts that might cause a more Republican leaning colleague to say the same of Donald Trump.   Indeed, some have. Personally, I am always amazed by the clarity with which the divine voice speaks to certain religious leaders during an electoral season. Back to Rabbi Holtzblatt. ...

There are all kinds of jokes about Jews and sports.   Remember this classic clip from the movie Airplane ? I remember those days when you could make a simple joke like that without the fear of lawsuits, being cancelled, or being labeled for life as a bigot. This joke, like so many others, reflected the belief or the stereotype that Jews weren't good athletes. We were great at physics, we've won a disproportionate (and I mean really disproportionate) number of Nobel prizes, and are overrepresented in the arts, entertainment, academia, business and in politics. We should be proud of that. Despite tremendous setbacks and the ever-present reality of antisemitism, Jews in the modern era have achieved amazing success. The readers of this Shabbat message certainly know that with few exceptions, your parents, or grandparents, or great grandparents came to the United States as poor, if not penniless immigrants fleeing poverty, antisemitism, and lack of opportunity in the country of...

My parents were wrong. Crime does pay. That's all I could think of last week when I heard the news that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan and other Americans unlawfully and immorally detained in Russia would be released later that day. Now don't get me wrong: I don't think for a moment that we should not have moved heaven and earth to get them home. I am grateful to all who had a hand in securing their release -- except the Russians -- and I think a special acknowledgement of President Biden's leadership is in order. This was a complicated bargain, one that made last year's release of WNBA star Brittney Griner simple by comparison. Yes, all that is true.  But still, crime pays. And that is a painful lesson.  I have talked about the issues of kidnapping, hostage taking, and unlawful imprisonment many times over the years.   I gave my first sermon about this subject in 1999! While a great deal of attention has been directed toward this in...

I have long wanted to write to the congregation about a particularly significant and controversial issue in Israel. As many reading this Shabbat message are aware, most ultra-Orthodox Jews are not subject to Israel's military draft. This has always stirred resentment among the Israeli public, with over 70% of Jewish Israelis opposing this general exemption. But given the horrific events of October 7th and the war that has followed, this general exemption to the Haredim , as the ultra-Orthodox are generally called in Israel, is no longer tenable. While composing 14% of the population, the Haredim represent 25% of Israel's draft age population ( approximately 63,000 people). As Israel's military is currently falling short on its conscription goals, and as both active duty as well as reserve units are having their military service extended, this problem and inequity has reached a boiling point. This is not the occasion to go through the entire history of how this exempti...