Fred Guttman

Apply for a Blog

Dec 31, 2024, 11:22 PM

A Few ‘Normal’ Days in Israel

My friend Rabbi Neil Katz recently collaborated with the Israeli group “Yonina” on a Hanukkah song entitled “Be the Light!” Along with so many others, I really loved the songs—I must have shared the video with several hundred people....

Sep 3, 2024, 7:03 AM

Make The Deal and Save the Remaining Hostages

What we saw this weekend is Hamas' next gruesome move in the war that they started. There is now a very real possibility that Hamas has decided to execute hostages when there is a feeling that they are about to be...

Jul 20, 2024, 8:38 PM

Gaza – The Sad Reality Versus the Possibility

In the early 2000s, before Hamas took over Gaza in 2007, over 100,000 Palestinians crossed the border daily to work in Israel. However, following Hamas' takeover, this number significantly decreased. Just prior to October 7, 2023, it had increased...

Mar 18, 2024, 2:55 AM

Advice to American Jewish Teens and College Students

According to the Anti-Defamation League, antisemitic incidents have risen by more than 400% since October 7. Here in Greensboro, North Carolina, we have seen a precipitous uptick in such occurrences. Specifically, our beautiful Holocaust Memorial had a red swastika painted...

Nov 22, 2023, 2:41 PM

The 6 Things Every American Jew and Ally Should Be Doing Now

On the way back to North Carolina from the November 14th March for Israel demonstration in Washington, I mentioned to those on our bus six actions that American Jews should undertake now. Here are the six actions that I recommended. Donate...

Oct 16, 2023, 8:49 PM

The Horror and the Hope

For the Jewish people and for the residents of Israel, this is a terrible time. Frankly, I am angry! I am angry because I've seen too many pictures of Israeli bodies. I am angry because I've seen dead children, dead grandmas and...

May 3, 2023, 12:02 PM

A Better Future Demands We Openly Teach the Past

While meeting recently with a friend who is an outstanding Holocaust educator based in Florida, I was informed that because of the recent laws passed by the legislature and signed by the governor, public school teachers who teach the...

Oct 28, 2022, 6:02 PM

‘Four Winters’ – A Groundbreaking Movie on Jewish Partisans in WWII

During World War II, they were 25,000 Jewish partisans. Most of these people were young people between the ages of 16 and 25. The movie Four Winters deals with this topic in a groundbreaking way. The movie consists of interviews...

Oct 21, 2022, 4:45 PM

‘It was VERY good’ – Remembering last year’s welcoming of refugees and immigrants

At the end of the sixth day in this week’s Torah portion, we read (Genesis 1:31) וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים אֶת־כָּל־אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה וְהִנֵּה־טוֹב מְאֹד And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was VERY good. This is the only time in...

Oct 2, 2022, 5:53 AM

A Review of the Movie “Plan A”

Imagine that you are a Holocaust survivor who had lost his or her entire family. Alone in Europe, you have the opportunity to go to a Displaced Person’s (DP) camp and perhaps from there on to mandatory Palestine, the...

Load more

About Me

Fred Guttman is the Senior Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Emanuel in Greensboro, North Carolina. He has served on the Commission of Social Action for Reform Judaism. He has been recognized as one of the “50 Voices for Justice” by the URJ and by the Forward Magazine as one of “America’s Most Inspiring Rabbis.” In March 2015, he organized the National Jewish commemoration in Selma of the 50th Anniversary of the Bloody Sunday March.

Contact Me