Rabbi Gordon’s Blog Page
Mourning the Tragedy in Poway, CA
May 2, 2019 by berith167 • Rabbi's Writings • Tags: 2019, blog • 0 Comments
May 2, 2019/27 Nisan 5779 Once more we are grieving and in shock because a terror attack has hit close to home: American Jews were targeted in Poway, California. Once more we are saying Kaddish for a Jew killed only because she was a Jew: Lori Gilbert Kaye z”l. Six days earlier Christians were murdered in […]
We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest
January 14, 2019 by berith167 • Rabbi's Writings • Tags: 2018, Addie Mae Collins, American holiday, American Jewish history, antiracism, B'tselem Elohim, baby boom generation, Bethel Baptist Church Troy NY, Brandi Mells, Carol Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, Civil Rights Movement history, Cynthia Wesley, Dahmeek McDonald, Doing justice, Edson Thevenin, Ella Baker, Interfaith, Lo alecha, Loving kindness, Maria Lugones, MeToo, Millenial generation, MLK, music, Pirkey Avot verse, Police, politics of fear, Prophetic (N'vi'im) verse, racism, sermon, Shanta Myers, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Tarana Burke, Torah, Troy NY, Tsedek (Justice), Tsimtsum, video, violence, Walking humbly • 0 Comments
We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest Rabbi Debora S. Gordon at Troy Interfaith MLK Service 14 January 2018, Bethel Baptist Church [Leah Penniman’s introduction:] Our family joined Berith Sholom in 2005 after visiting every other synagogue in the Capital District. As a Black Jewish farmer with a Sephardic spouse, multiracial children, and a profound […]
Reasons for Hope (Why I Am an Optimist)
September 10, 2018 by berith167 • Rabbi's Writings • Tags: 2018, High Holy Days, Rosh Hashanah, sermon • 0 Comments
Reasons for Hope (Why I Am an Optimist) Rosh HaShanah 5779/2018 I got a phone call 3 weeks ago from Rob Brill, City Desk and Religion editor of the Times-Union. He asked me, in words rather blunter than these: Don’t you think that things are pretty messed up right now? Do you see any hope? You […]
What if we arm the teachers? A lesson from Purim
February 23, 2018 by berith167 • Rabbi's Writings • Tags: 2018, blog, Purim • 0 Comments
Esther Chapter 9 23 February 2018 / 8 Adar 5778 The 3 college-age children of Congressman Ted Deutch (D-FL) just started a campaign called Bake Action Against Gun Violence. “For us, social action is rooted in our Jewish values. As Purim approaches, we invite Jewish communities across the country—organizations such as Hillels and synagogues, or groups of individuals, […]
Holy places are safe spaces
February 16, 2018 by berith167 • Rabbi's Writings • Tags: 2018, blog • 0 Comments
T’rumah, Exodus 25:1-27:19 16 February 2018/ 1 Adar 5778 “Let them build me a mikdash, a place of holiness” says God, “and I will dwell in their midst.” (Exodus 25:8) Not “in it” but “in the middle of them.” If you can successfully build a place of holiness, then I will [already] be present in your […]
There Arose a New King Who Knew Not Joseph…
December 28, 2017 by berith167 • Rabbi's Writings • Tags: 2017, blog, Genesis • 0 Comments
There Arose a New King Who Knew Not Joseph… What do you mean, “Who knew not Joseph”? A king didn’t know his own country’s history? How could it be that a prince who would later become Pharaoh hadn’t been tutored in the annals of the kingdom, which surely included information about the massive contributions made […]
A Trip to Sharon Springs, NY
October 10, 2017 by berith167 • Rabbi's Writings • Tags: 2017, blog • 0 Comments
A Trip to Sharon Springs, NY 10 October 2017 Today was a serendipitous trip to Sharon Springs, NY. Not serendipitous for the seven women who had planned to go together on the trip sponsored by the Women’s Philanthropy division of our local Jewish Federation; but I didn’t know anyone from Berith Sholom was going and […]
Israel- Kol Nidrey 5778/2017
September 29, 2017 by berith167 • Rabbi's Writings • Tags: 2017, antisemitism, exile (galut), High Holy Days, holiday, immigrant, Israel, Jewish community, Jewish continuity, Jonah (prophet), Kol Nidrey, Millenial generation, music, Occupation of Palestine, Palestine, Pirkey Avot verse, poem, Psalm 137, sermon, Sh'ma (Listen!), shared values, Torah verse, Tsedek (Justice), Warsan Shire, White privilege, Yom Kippur, Zionism • 0 Comments
Israel — Kol Nidrey 5778/2017 ♫ Shiru lanu mi-shirey Tziyon! Eych nashir al admat neychar? By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat, and we wept, remembering Zion. On willows in her midst we hung up our instruments; for our captors there asked us for songs, and our tormentors, for amusement: “Sing us one of the […]
Smarter Than Abraham: Don’t Go It Alone
September 21, 2017 by berith167 • Rabbi's Writings • Tags: 2017, High Holy Days, holiday, Rosh Hashanah, sermon • 0 Comments
SMARTER THAN ABRAHAM: Don’t Go it Alone Rosh HaShanah 5778/2017 We’re about to spend some time visiting with Abraham and Sarah, the ancestral couple of the Jewish people. They have much to teach us. They were active elders, known for their hospitality to strangers and their willingness to stand up for what they thought was right. […]
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 […]