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Dennis C. Sasso

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May 12, 2026, 5:16 AM

ONE (JEWISH) WEEK IN PANAMA

Rabbi Dennis C. Sasso (This serves as a sequel to my previous Times of Israel Blog (May 3, 2026), “150 Years of Jewish Life in Panama.”) Going to Panama is always a homecoming for me. I was born and educated in...

May 3, 2026, 5:06 AM

150 Years of Jewish Life in Panama

Rabbi Dennis C. Sasso The Jewish community of Panama, the oldest in Central America, celebrates this month the 150th Anniversary of its founding. The beginnings of Jewish history in the Americas are as old as the discovery of the New World,...

Jul 31, 2025, 11:27 PM

A Nation Among the Nations

There have been numerous individual statements and institutional pronouncements regarding the calamitous developments in Gaza and Israel. I have found many of them meaningful. Others have been either sanctimonious or self-hating. The situation in Gaza is dire and tragic. It...

May 22, 2025, 11:34 PM

Joys and Oys of Retirement: A Rabbi’s Reflections

Rabbi Dennis C. Sasso, For me, being a rabbi was never a job, a means to a livelihood. It was a lifestyle, not just what I did, but who I was, not a role, but part of my identity. Even...

Nov 3, 2024, 5:01 AM

Babel and Babble: The Vocabulary of Judaism

The story of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11: 1-9) closes the biblical prehistoric narrative and lead us, through a genealogy of Noah’s son, Shem (Gen 11: 10-32), to Abraham, the ancestor of biblical Israel. In the Jewish tradition,...

Apr 22, 2024, 6:47 PM

What Will We Tell the Grandchildren: Passover 5784

(This essay is co-authored by Dennis C. Sasso and Sandy Eisenberg Sasso) As our families and guests gather around the Seder table tonight, we are aware that this is not Passover as usual. Some people are talking about observance, not...

Apr 17, 2024, 11:30 PM

Reconstructionist Judaism’s Unfinished Work

I am a religious naturalist. I do not believe that Judaism is supernaturally revealed. The Torah is not the final word, but the beginning of a conversation that continues even today. Judaism is what the Jewish people do and...

Dec 18, 2023, 1:01 AM

Calling evil ‘good’ and good ‘evil’

Co-authored by Dennis C. Sasso and Sandy E. Sasso The Land of Israel is at the heart of Jewish history, memory, and identity. It is central to the promise of the Covenant with Abraham, it is the destination of the freed slaves from Egypt, it...

Nov 6, 2023, 10:38 PM

‘A Call for Repentance’ to whom?

Two women work together at a volunteer center in Rahat, Israel run by Jewish and Arab volunteers. (Facebook, used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)

A Palestinian Christian letter demonizing Israel distorts Scripture and Christian values of love and piety

Oct 9, 2023, 5:42 PM

For the sake of my loved ones and friends

(courtesy)

So much has been said and written about the brutal Hamas attack on Israel. We write these notes not as a geo-political commentary, but from the depths of human anguish. We think of loved ones and friends in the...

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About Me

Dennis Sasso is Senior Rabbi Emeritus at Congregation Beth-El Zedeck, Indianapolis, Indiana. He is Affiliate Professor of Jewish Studies at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, Indiana.