Jonathan Berkun, at The Blogs

May 19, 2021, 5:33 PM

Recently, my 11-year-old daughter Eliana asked if she could borrow some of my clothes. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised, as she has been borrowing my wife’s clothes for months now. Over the years, my older, teenage sons have...

Nov 1, 2018, 4:30 AM

The weight of the world in Pittsburgh

There are no words to adequately describe the last 48 hours in Pittsburgh. Ironically, that is how many of the messages I’ve received begin: “I have no words... Words cannot truly express... I don’t know what to say...” But...

Oct 29, 2018, 4:31 PM

It’s Been a Tough Day for us In Pittsburgh

A Pittsburgh Police Chaplain sitting with Rabbi Alvin Berkun.

Today, wearing my Steelers kippah while flying from Florida to Pittsburgh felt like an act of spiritual defiance. Those who hate Jews in Pittsburgh or anywhere will not win. After landing, I bought a bottle of water at the Pittsburgh airport....

Oct 28, 2018, 5:46 AM

Sad, angry and broken-hearted

My family is safe. But I cannot stop shaking. I am sad, angry and brokenhearted. For the last 35 years, my father Rabbi Alvin K Berkun has attended every Shabbat morning service at the Tree Of Life - Or L'Simcha Congregation in Pittsburgh. For 23...

Aug 20, 2017, 8:14 PM

A Total Moral Eclipse

When my sons returned home from summer camp last month, I was pleasantly surprised that they brought back almost everything we sent with them. They even brought back some things I wish they had forgotten and left at camp. One...

About Me

Jonathan Berkun is the senior rabbi of the Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center, a Conservative synagogue in Miami, past-President of the Rabbinical Association of Greater Miami and a Senior Rabbinic Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute. He was raised in his father's synagogue, Tree of Life Congregation of Squirrel Hill in Pittsburgh.

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