Daniel Dorsch
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Daniel Dorsch

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Oct 1, 2021, 7:38 AM
Why I Don’t Wear Tefillin on Chol HaMoed
My Zaidy called me the other day and asked me: “Daniel, do we wear tefillin on Chol HaMoed (the intermediate days of Sukkot and Passover)?” I had to laugh.  My grandfather is in his early 90s and has put on tefillin nearly every day of...
May 14, 2021, 5:34 AM
Our synagogue does not want your old books
(Adam Jones/Creative Commons)
We have plenty, and that is the case for just about all synagogues. But this Shavuot, I do have a suggestion for who should receive your books
Apr 20, 2021, 5:30 PM
Eating God’s birthday cake
This morning, I asked my three-year-old daughter what Jewish things she was learning in preschool.  She told me that she liked eating birthday cake. “Birthday cake?” I said.  Seeing my confused look, she went on to explain: “Yes.  Last week we ate birthday cake to...
Dec 11, 2020, 6:52 PM
“No Jesus? If not, what else are you following?”
A friend of my son participates in a local church basketball league.  As part of their ministry, after practice one day he was handed a card with what was labeled as an action step.  The card read: “Are you following Jesus?  If not, who or...
Jul 30, 2020, 12:53 AM
Help! Making Meaning from My Zoom Shabbat Service
When I was in tenth grade I was a solid B math student: until one day I had a teacher who thought that I could do better.  After I failed the first test of the semester we sat down.  Within five minutes she had identified...
Jan 9, 2020, 9:33 PM
Where’s Waldo? He’s Studying the Talmud
There’s a funny picture making its way around social media from the Siyyum HaShas that took place at MetLife Stadium.  Last week, 90,000 Jews gathered to celebrate the completion of Daf Yomi, the 7.5 year cycle of reading the entire Talmud. From an aerial view,...
Jun 13, 2019, 9:39 PM
Rejoicing at Our Enemy’s Downfall in an NBA Final
As Jews, we historically rejoice at the downfall of our enemies.  We boo Haman on Purim.  The very prayer our rabbis tell us in the Talmud to recite twice daily, Az Yashir, the Song of the Sea, taunts the supposed might of the fallen Egyptians...
Feb 28, 2019, 10:21 PM
Dumbfounding questions my 5-year-old asks me
Sometimes, I feel like I should rename this column Dumbfounding Questions That My 5-Year-Old Asks Me. “Daddy,” asked Zev, “when did our family begin?” Well-equipped with an answer from my rabbinic utility belt, I naturally told him that our family began with Adam and Eve....
Feb 22, 2019, 1:28 AM
Rabbi Dorsch Invocation
Pictured left to right, Lieutenant Governer, Goeff Duncan, District 32 State Senator, Kay Kirkpatrick, Rabbi Daniel Dorsch and Sally N. Levine, Executive Director of the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust
My dear Senators, it seems like it took place ages ago, but how soon we forget that it was only recently that we marked four months since a deranged individual, filled with hate in his heart, marched into a synagogue and killed eleven innocent souls...
Jan 26, 2018, 6:51 AM
The Vice President’s speech to Knesset reminded me why I love Israel
Contrary to what you might have expected when you clicked on this headline, I am not going to write about the content of the Vice President’s speech. Instead, I want to focus on a moment of protest that took place before he had hardly opened...
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About Me
Daniel Dorsch is the Senior Rabbi at Congregation Etz Chaim in Marietta, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. He also serves a Vice President of MERCAZ-USA, the Zionist arm of the Conservative movement. He enjoys studying Daf Yomi, barbecuing in the winter, and spending time with his family.