Rabbi Gordon’s Blog Page
Liberty and Safety
May 15, 2020 by Rabbi Debora S. Gordon • Rabbi's Writings • Tags: BlackLivesMatter, COVID-19, entitlement, freedom, Love your neighbor, music, politics of fear, racism, safety, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Torah verse, video, violence • 0 Comments
“Your personal liberty to swing your arm ends where my nose begins.”
Why it’s right that Reform summer camps aren’t opening this summer
May 7, 2020 by Rabbi Debora S. Gordon • Rabbi's Writings • Tags: 2020, COVID-19, Pikuach nefesh, Summer camp, Union for Reform Judaism • 1 Comment
I’m a rabbi in large part because of Reform summer camp. But pikuach nefesh, saving lives, outweighs all.
Counting our way from Freedom to Responsibility
April 30, 2020 by Rabbi Debora S. Gordon • Rabbi's Writings • Tags: 2020, COVID-19, freedom, Jewish holiday, Passover, responsibility, Shavu'ot • 1 Comment
Our world changed irrevocably this year before Pesach. Now we are counting days of isolation as well as counting our way to Mt. Sinai. But because the US is incredibly stratified and segregated — by geography, by economics, and by color and culture — there are still large segments of our population who don’t personally know anybody who has died or even tested positive.
Yom HaShoah 5780/2020
April 20, 2020 by Rabbi Debora S. Gordon • Rabbi's Writings • Tags: 2020, Jewish holiday, poem, video, Yom HaShoah • 0 Comments
We are commanded never to forget. For if “those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it,” then remembering and honoring our dead is part of our survival — as Jews and as human beings.
Yizkor Elohim/May God Remember
April 14, 2020 by Rabbi Debora S. Gordon • Rabbi's Writings • Tags: 2020, COVID-19, Jewish holiday, mourning, Passover, Yizkor • 4 Comments
Tonight begins the seventh day of Pesach. It’s a yontif (Yom tov, a non-work holiday day), like the first day (or two) of Passover, and I invite you to light candles to mark the beginning of this ending. Such markers of time are especially important for those of us whose days are blending into each […]
This is not a time for productivity. Not yet
April 4, 2020 by Rabbi Debora S. Gordon • Rabbi's Writings • Tags: 2020, blog, COVID-19, Jewish holiday, mourning, Passover, safety, Seder, trauma • 3 Comments
You are living through a crisis. This is not a time to worry about “productivity” or “academic success” or even “a meaningful, memorable Passover.” Not yet.
Old foods, new symbolic meanings on the Seder plate
April 2, 2020 by Rabbi Debora S. Gordon • Rabbi's Writings • Tags: 2020, blog, COVID-19, food, Jewish holiday, Passover, Seder • 1 Comment
Some people are asking what to add to the seder plate this year. There are many creative answers. For myself, I think we already have all the symbols we need. New answers to Rabban Gamliel’s question: Why do we eat this on Pesach?
Mah Nishtanah: How is this plague different?
April 1, 2020 by Rabbi Debora S. Gordon • Rabbi's Writings • Tags: 2020, COVID-19, food, Jewish holiday, Passover • 1 Comment
Mah nishtanah ha-magefah ha-zot mi-kol ha-magefot! How different is this plague from all other plagues! For all other plagues took place long ago or far away. This plague is here and now. For all other plagues in our lifetime there was an “us” and a “them.” This plague affects us all. For all other plagues, real-time communication […]
What Are You Paying Attention To?
September 30, 2019 by berith167 • Rabbi's Writings • Tags: 2019, 5780, addiction, being present where and when you are, Elijah, High Holy Days, humane technology, internet, midrash (new), poem, Rosh Hashanah, screen time, sermon, Torah • 0 Comments
What Are You Paying Attention To? Rosh HaShanah 5780/2019 Abraham was relaxing one evening when his phone vibrated with a text message. “Can I call you?” “Sure.” The call went something like this: “Take your son…” “The one who lives at home or the one who’s moved away?” “Your only one…” “I’ve still got two, and each […]
Do Not Stand Idly By
June 3, 2020 by Rabbi Debora S. Gordon • Rabbi's Writings • Tags: antiracism, BlackLivesMatter, tzedakah • 3 Comments
Jewish tradition teaches us Lo ta’amod al dam rey-echa, do not stand idly by while your neighbor is bleeding (Lev. 19:16). This is a sh’at d’chak, an urgent hour. We need to show up right now, as Jews, in support of justice and real equality for Black and Brown people. Some Jews are Black and Brown […]