pursuing tzedek

new blog address

Published on 2008-07-06 06:40:00

i'm not posting on this blog so much anymore, instead, i'm posting at israel-and-beyond as i begin my year of study and adventures in israel. come visit with me over there.

the curse of chief wahoo

Published on 2007-10-22 10:25:00

i grew up in cleveland. i suffered through the indians of the 80s, the drive, the fumble, the shot ... and if you don't count the cleveland crunch (indoor soccer...), the city of cleveland hasn't won a professional sports championship since 1964.while some people blame the drought on the curse of rocky colavita ... or a more general cleveland sports curse, how about blaming things on our cute smiling little red racist friend?while the cleveland jewish news isn't quite sure, i agree with rabbi ji

reawakening

Published on 2007-08-27 09:55:00

a new school year about to begin - a good time to dust off the old blog and see what happens....

oh happy day!!!

Published on 2006-11-08 19:36:00

happy, happy, joy, joy. happy, happy, joy, joy. happy, happy, joy, joy. happy, happy, joy, joy. happy, happy, joy, joy. happy, happy, joy, joy. happy, happy, joy, joy. happy, happy, joy, joy. happy, happy, joy, joy. if only every wednesday after the first tuesday after the first monday in november could be so wonderful.now let's get to work. minimum wage. iraq. global warming. energy policies. health care. student loans. affordable housing. prescription drug be

obama-rama!

Published on 2006-10-22 21:29:00

I just saw Barack Obama speak yesterday at Temple University at the campaign rally for Casey, Rendell, and everyone else in Pennsylvania (on Shabbat, no less).I began to believe. I was impressed. It’s not his charisma. It’s not his good looks. It’s not his ethnic diversity. It’s that the man’s got some serious communication skills. He knows how to communicate with people. It’s his three years of working as a community organizer for Gamaliel in south-side Chicago. He knows ho

failure is a good thing...

Published on 2006-10-09 15:57:00

from npr, "this i believe," this morning, by jon carroll. it reminded me that the typical hall-of-fame baseball player fails two out of every three times at bat over his career - 67% of the time. if only we remembered that, whenever we start judging ourselves too harshly.Last week, my granddaughter started kindergarten, and, as is conventional, I wished her success. I was lying. What I actually wish for her is failure. I believe in the power of failure.Success is boring. Success is proving that

there's a whale on my tail! does forced repentance really count?

Published on 2006-10-03 21:05:00

without further ado, here's my my take on the book of Jonah, from yesterday, written before any of our current political scandals came to light:Why don’t I like Jonah? Every time I read the story, I have a negative gut reaction to his character. He shirks his responsibilities, he hides from God, he endangers the lives of those poor sailors, who were just trying to irk out a living on the high seas – the poor guy just doesn’t have that many redeeming qualities. And when Jonah eventually

lewis black on yom kippur

Published on 2006-09-30 09:31:00

from jewschool.com, click on the link, then click on the arrow to play

oy... that poor ram!

Published on 2006-09-23 20:16:00

l'shana tova blogosphere!for your new year's pleasure - my musings on the akedah (the binding of isaac):A familiar story is a gift, but also a burden. When we have to read the same cautionary tale each year, how do we keep it fresh?One of my favorite cinematic scenes is from the movie, Dead Poets Society, when the teacher, Robin Williams, instructs each of his students to stand up on top of their desks, in a literal challenge to see the world from a different vantage point, from a new point of v

shoftim: who are the prophets in our midst today?

Published on 2006-08-29 07:18:00

a dvar torah that i wrote for this past shabbat:In an era of hurricanes, wars, melting glaciers, explosive bottles of gatorade and slithering snakes on a plane, how do we distinguish fact from fiction – truth from static - the real threats from Hollywood’s imagination and pre-election manipulations? To whose voice do we listen - Samuel L. Jackson, Al Gore, Jon Stewart or Tony Snow? Who are the true prophets in our midst today? Conveniently enough, in this week’s Torah portion (Chapter