Erica Brown, at The Blogs

Erica Brown

Apr 9, 2025, 3:42 PM

Welcoming the hungry on Seder night and the 10/4 rule

'Ha Lahma Anya,' the invitation to join a Passover Seder, from The Barcelona Haggadah Folio 28v29r. (Wikipedia)

Instead of a disapproving, judgmental 'I-don’t-know-you-nor-do-I-care-to' once-over, we need to welcome each other with a smile and kind words

Jul 26, 2024, 4:00 PM

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Handing power to the next generation is hard

US First Lady Jill Biden, left, and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, right, watch as US President Joe Biden, center left, raises the hand of Vice President Kamala Harris, as they view the Independence Day firework display over the National Mall from the balcony of the White House, July 4, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

How timely that this week’s Torah portion culminates in Moses’ ceding his role leading the Israelites to Joshua, for the nation's needs come first (Pinchas)

Jul 11, 2024, 4:02 PM

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Hersh’s letter

Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin, parents of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, then 201 days since October 7 (now Day 279), from a video statement pleading for a hostage deal and urging Hersh to stay strong and survive, April 24, 2024. (Courtesy, via The Times of Israel)

To bring the hostages home, we are storming the heavens by writing a new Torah scroll together - a community of words that bring redemption

Mar 21, 2024, 5:23 PM

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Purim offers 4 ways to heal the wounds of war – when the time is right

The best antidote to hate is gifts of affection, even when the tangerines are old and the licorice stale

Nov 22, 2023, 1:21 PM

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Thanksgiving: This year in Jerusalem

Posters of the hostages abducted to Gaza by Hamas on October 7, 2023, line the walkway to the arrivals hall at Ben-Gurion airport. (via Facebook)

Anxiety about Israel at war, the hostages, antisemitism (the list goes on) makes it hard to give thanks, but it's exactly the right thing to do

Sep 29, 2023, 2:11 PM

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The Book of Kohelet and a cup of joy

Sure, Ecclesiastes pitches existential dread, but its clusters of optimism remind us that there's a time for everything, even coffee

Dec 23, 2022, 3:11 PM

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My Peloton Hanukkah inspiration

Illustrative. A Hanukkah menorah (Flash90)

When the instructors say they see me, it's sappy, but it works: my holiday workout made me feel visible as a Jew, despite the baseless hate out there

Oct 26, 2022, 2:49 PM

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WWJSD? (What Would Jonathan Sacks Do?)

In his absence, I survey what he's written, recall when I learned from him, and work to shift the outsized role politics plays in our lives these days

Sep 6, 2021, 1:00 PM

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Why centrist Orthodox living doesn’t make good TV

A young teen receives a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at the Misgav Ladach hospital in Jerusalem on June 6, 2021, as Israel begins its coronavirus vaccination campaign for 12- to 15-year-olds. (Menahem KAHANA/AFP)

This year has taught us the importance of taking responsibility for our own vigilance, so that when things go wrong, we ask not, 'where was God,' but, 'where are we?'

Nov 17, 2020, 12:24 AM

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When scholars die

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks was first and foremost a servant leader. With his death, the world lost a prophetic and courageous voice— and I lost my rabbi

About Me

Dr. Erica Brown is the vice provost for Values and Leadership at Yeshiva University and the director of the Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks-Herenstein Center for Values and Leadership. Her latest books are 'The Torah of Leadership' and 'Morning Has Broken: Faith after October 7th.'