Rabbi Gordon’s Blog Page
Rosh Chodesh Sivan at the Kotel: Receiving the Torah
May 10, 2013 by berith167 • Rabbi's Writings • Tags: 2013, blog, Israel/Palestine, Times Union • 0 Comments
For the first time in nearly 25 years of attempting to pray aloud, according to their own custom (in tallit and tefillin), and to read Torah in public — Nashot HaKotel/Women of the Wall held a historic Rosh Chodesh Sivan service this morning at the Kotel (the Western Wall). More than 400 women and a bat mitzvah (who was carried on someone’s shoulders, […]
Women of the Wall — A Victory
April 26, 2013 by berith167 • Rabbi's Writings • Tags: 2013, blog, Israel/Palestine, Times Union • 0 Comments
It’s a historic day in Israel for everyone who believes that pluralism and inclusion are good for the soul — and the body politic. After nearly 25 years, Women of the Wall have been vindicated in court. Women of the Wall have been holding monthly prayer services at the Kotel, the Western Wall in Jerusalem, since December 1998. You […]
The Diameter of the Bomb
April 19, 2013 by berith167 • Rabbi's Writings • Tags: 2013, blog, Times Union • 0 Comments
The diameter of the bomb was thirty centimeters and the diameter of its effective range about seven meters, with four dead and eleven wounded. And around these, in a larger circle of pain and time, two hospitals are scattered and one graveyard. But the young woman who was buried in the city she came from, […]
After Death, Holiness Speak
April 19, 2013 by berith167 • Rabbi's Writings • Tags: 2013, blog, Times Union • 0 Comments
.אחרי מות, קדשים אמר This week’s double Torah portion: Acharey Mot-K’doshim. Next week, Emor. Put them together as a sentence and you have: “After death, holiness speak.” This week there’s been a lot of death in our country. Boston’s not so far away and a lot of us have connections there. The explosion in Texas […]
I’m *Family* Now. Legally.
April 11, 2013 by berith167 • Rabbi's Writings • Tags: 2013, blog, LGBTQIA, Times Union • 0 Comments
Watch this (the video is better than the article, and surprisingly neutral given that it’s from Fox): April 11, 2013: “Missouri Man Arrested for Refusing to Leave Gay Partner” <Rabbi swearing> In case you were wondering why we need marriage equality. Everywhere. All the time. Across state lines.
My…Wife
April 10, 2013 by berith167 • Rabbi's Writings • Tags: 2013, blog, LGBTQIA, Times Union • 0 Comments
Quite an inspirational evening tonight, with “the usual suspects” from the local interfaith community: The Interfaith Alliance annual awards dinner. My parents were there and I took it as an opportunity to honor them for raising me with justice, respect, and equality in my genes, as my mother more or less put it. I had to introduce […]
L’Dor vaDor
April 9, 2013 by berith167 • Rabbi's Writings • Tags: 2013, blog, Times Union • 0 Comments
There’s a little bell singing from my daughter’s room tonight. We got presents today, books for each of us, and she got The Velveteen Rabbit. So I read it before bed, and then I said, “I have something to show you.” I rummaged around in my top drawer, and wondered for a while if I’d remembered […]
A Legally Married Woman
April 8, 2013 by berith167 • Rabbi's Writings • Tags: 2013, blog, Farming, LGBTQIA, Times Union • 0 Comments
The Spring peepers are out. I thought I heard them when we got home last night but it’s definite. I’ve been saying for a month or more that it’s Spring. Non-farmers don’t see it. 4 weeks ago, the boys (goats) were shedding. Just a little bit of their winter under-coat, but enough: if they’re shedding, it’s Spring. […]
Morality and Marriage Equality
April 2, 2013 by berith167 • Rabbi's Writings • Tags: 2013, blog, LGBTQIA, Times Union • 0 Comments
A colleague just posted this on Facebook, from HuffPost. Jessica Gerson writes: The reason I call you a bigot, and the reason that we cannot politely agree to disagree, is that you are trying to make me, my life and my family subject to your opinion and/or religious belief…. If marriage equality becomes the law of the […]
Prayers (and Disaster Aid) for Oklahoma
May 21, 2013 by berith167 • Rabbi's Writings • Tags: 2013, blog, Times Union • 0 Comments
Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God” (Exodus 8:15) Then Israel saw the great hand which God had used against the Egyptians… (Exodus 14:31) As Barry Goldman commented, “Doodling aimlessly?” In response to a comment below, I want to clarify: I am absolutely NOT saying […]