Last Friday, our family had some unexpected drama. Shortly before Shabbat, I dropped off my son Yossi in Durham, where he spent Shabbat with his classmates at Chabad of Duke University. While it was getting close to Shabbat, I had a Shabbat package with Challah...
There is a well known adage "if it bleeds, it leads." For better or worse, negative press gets a lot more attention than positive one. The same is true with anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitic Incidents need to be documented and reported, but should also be taken in context...
Two days ago, I received a phone call from a woman in our community who needed some assistance. Her car had run out of gas right as she approached a turning lane to enter the highway. Dassy and I happen to have a gasoline container...
I walked into the social hall this past Monday to pick up my kids after camp was over for the day. A camper who I know from camp and Hebrew School approached me and said “don’t move!” Confused as to why she wanted me to stand...
One of the opportunities I have as a Rabbi here in Raleigh is to visit Jewish inmates on a regular basis at a prison about 40 minutes from here, speaking to them about upcoming Jewish holidays, the Torah portion and giving them encouragement to live...
While in Miami a few years ago, Dassy and I visited her grandparents, the Webermans, who founded a synagogue there in the early 1960’s and served as Rabbi and Rebbetzin until just a few years ago. Rabbi Weberman told me a story that happened to...
It’s an interesting period for our family. Dassy and I still have the opportunity to serve in the role of spiritual leaders here in town. There’s a lot taking place within the shul and community, and we also feel a sense of urgency to spend...
I came across an article a few days ago about a home for sale in Colorado Springs for $590,000. What was unique about the listing was the not so glowing terms in which the Realtor chose to describe the home, namely as "every landlord's nightmare."...
Yesterday was mine and Dassy’s 11th wedding anniversary (interestingly, both the Jewish and Gregorian date fell out on the same day). I was reminiscing a bit about the week following our wedding, where there were festive meals each day, known as Sheva Brachot. I recalled...
Last week an historic meeting of sorts took place in Turkey. 38 Chabad and non-Chabad Rabbis from across a dozen Muslim countries, including Iran, Egypt, Tunisia and United Arab Emirates, met in Istanbul’s Conrad hotel for the inaugural conference of the Alliance of Rabbis in...