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Dec 30, 2021, 7:36 AM

Kotzer Ruach and the Pedagogy of Hope

"The greatest antidote to fear is grounded hope." -Adam Grant The opening of Parashat Vaera is the lowest point in the Exodus story. Last week, Moshe bursts onto the scene, gives the iconic call of “Let my people go” to...

Aug 7, 2019, 8:09 PM

When Facts Don’t Matter

Recall, O Lord, what befell us, look and see our disgrace--our estate turned over to strangers, our homes to foreigners” (Megillat Eikha 5:1-2). The final chapter of Megillat Eikha is about return and memory. The narrator opens by asking...

Jun 5, 2019, 3:20 PM

Does Your Synagogue Give or Take?

Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not failed in Her kindness to the living or to the dead! For,” Naomi explained to her daughter-in-law, “the man is related to us; he is one of...

Mar 18, 2019, 4:01 PM

Don’t Forget About the Jewish Present

For that reason these days were named Purim, after pur. In view, then, of all the instructions in the said letter and of what they had experienced in that matter and what had befallen them, the Jews undertook and...

Jan 16, 2019, 6:25 PM

Does Your Synagogue Care About People?

The rabbis taught: Adam was created on the eve of Shabbat. And why was he created last?...Some say: So that if he becomes too haughty, he can be told: the gnat preceded you in the order of creation (Bavli...

Nov 28, 2018, 10:52 PM

Why Should Your Synagogue Exist?

...when the Hasmonean monarchy overcame the Greeks and emerged victorious over them, they searched and found only one cruse of oil that was placed with the seal of the High Priest, undisturbed by the Greeks. And there was sufficient...

Sep 3, 2018, 6:36 AM

I am wrong (and by the way, so are you)

“Three books are opened in heaven on Rosh Hashanah, one for the completely wicked, one for the completely righteous and one for those in between. The completely righteous are immediately inscribe in the book of life. The completely wicked...

Jul 14, 2018, 6:43 AM

Choose people over things

“I cried out to my friends, But they played me false. My priests and my elders perished in the city as they searched for food to keep themselves alive (Megillat Eikha 1:19). Megillat Eikha is the first interpretation of what...

May 14, 2018, 6:37 PM

Facts Are Not Enough

And from the day on which you bring the sheaf of elevation offering—the day after the sabbath—you shall count seven weeks. They must be complete: you must count until the day after the seventh week—fifty days; then you shall...

Mar 23, 2018, 5:08 PM

Enslaved to Limitations

“In every generation, a person is obligated to see himself as if he left Egypt, as it is stated (Shemot 13:8); "For the sake of this, did the Lord do with them did He redeem, as it is...

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About Me

Rabbi Joshua Rabin is the Senior Director USY. Josh received his rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2011, and is a recipient of the Wexner Field Fellowship and the Ruskay Fellowship in Jewish Professional Leadership. Josh lives on the Upper West Side with his wife, Rabbi Yael Hammerman, and their children Hannah, Shai, and Ella. You can read more of Josh's writings at www.joshuarabin.com