Ariel Fisher, at The Blogs

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Jul 27, 2020, 10:43 PM

‘Abba, what if that happened to us?’

Tonight, as I was preparing dinner for my four-and-a-half-year-old son we heard a knock on the door. Expecting it to be the grocery delivery I went to open door. “I want to come, Abba!” My son shouted and ran...

Jun 12, 2020, 4:21 PM

Making aliyah amid the COVID pandemic and George Floyd protests

Last week, as the protests over George Floyd’s murder began to gather steam in America, my family made the most significant move of our lifetime, we left America and moved back to Israel. My wife and I left Israel...

May 15, 2020, 9:27 AM

Lessons we learned after being displaced by COVID-19

This week’s parsha is the most challenging and painful portion of the Torah that we have read since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In it, God tells the Jewish people about the immense suffering that they will face...

May 1, 2020, 8:39 PM

Accepting Leaders and Their Mistakes

As the worst of the COVID 19 crisis seems to be behind us, but with the situation still dire and critical all over the world, many of us have begun to think about what went wrong. How were some...

Apr 23, 2020, 10:30 PM

We all are lepers in quarantine

For many years, even before the COVID-19 pandemic brought our lives to a standstill, I have thought that the world has been the victim of a separate, horrible disease. The way that we speak to each and about each...

Apr 17, 2020, 6:51 PM

Making the Torah Come Alive Through The Way We Eat

A few weeks before we moved to Senegal, Bina and I were shopping in the Machane Yehuda market when we ran in to a friend’s mother. She was very excited to see us before our trip, and quickly told...

Apr 14, 2020, 11:16 PM

Feeling Paralyzed In This Moment of Fear

These are truly scary and confusing times. When Bina and I were struggling to decide whether to stay or leave Senegal, one of our friends there reminded us that there was no good clear answer. Every person and every...

Apr 8, 2020, 1:02 AM

Finding Freedom during the Plague

“Our townsfolk were not more to blame than others; they forgot to be modest, that was all, and thought that everything still was possible for them; which presupposed that pestilences were impossible. They went on doing business, arranged for...

Mar 30, 2020, 3:49 AM

When the Exodus feels personal; Our decision to leave Senegal

The past two weeks have been some of the most challenging that my wife and I have faced in our marriage. As the coronavirus changed the lives of everyone around the world, we watched from Senegal, which for a...

Mar 13, 2020, 1:05 PM

Turning your home into your synagogue: Lessons from a year in Senegal

Before we start Kabbalat Shabbat every Friday night my 4-year-old son announces 'The African shul is starting in five minutes!'

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About Me

Ariel Fisher is an American rabbi who recently moved to Jerusalem after living in Dakar, Senegal for a year and working as a campus rabbi at Princeton University for four years before that. He uses this platform to reflect on his unique life experiences and connect them with Judaism and the Torah. He is always happy to hear feedback from his readers!

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