I have always been an Americanophile; in case you’re unfamiliar with the term it means “a person who greatly admires of favors America or things from American culture.”1 Okay, full disclosure I didn’t actually know there was a word for this, but I googled in the hope that it would exist and there it was. Continue Reading »
Not ever-dying. Ever-evolving, ever-adapting, and ever-reforming In 1948, the Jewish thinker Simon Rawidowicz wrote a paper entitled: “Israel, the Ever-dying People”.[1] In the aftermath of the Holocaust, one might have thought that he was talking about the fact that we as a community have faced challenges from the outside who have sought to destroy kill Continue Reading »
People will often say that we Jews have a blessing or a prayer for every occasion – and they’d be right. Whatever happens there is a blessing to be said, praising and thanking God. When a person survives a near death experience, they recite Birkat Gomel. God is thanked for rewarding the undeserving with goodness, Continue Reading »
It is such a joy and a privilege to be with you this morning and especially to be alongside my dear friend and colleague Reverend J. Anthony Lloyd. I feel immensely honored and blessed to have the opportunity to deliver today’s invocation. I am ever so grateful to be here, surrounded by friends committed to Continue Reading »
As we approach the end of another calendar year, alongside holiday celebrations, we have a new tradition of celebrating individuals as heroes or people of the year. Most prominently we have the Time Magazine Person of the Year and the CNN Heroes. I want to add another hero; a group who have gone unrecognized for Continue Reading »
Click above to listen to Cantor Hollis and Rabbi Danny’s welcome at the Wayland Interfaith Leaders Association (WILA) Interfaith Communal Thanksgiving Service!
I don’t remember much about the specifics of the Shabbat service that morning, what I do remember is that my phone kept vibrating in my pocket. While this has become more normal in our Covid world, this was 3 years ago, and so while a vibration or two might have been expected, this was way Continue Reading »
