Michael Bernstein

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Oct 27, 2023, 6:13 AM

Kishinev in Zion: On These Slaughters

Easter of 1903 in the Bessarabian capital of Kishinev a mob of hundreds fanned out across the Jewish community and wreaked upon them horrific violence, a pogrom, in which 49 Jews were murdered, hundreds were seriously injured and many...

Jun 16, 2021, 6:15 PM

The rabble and the rabble rousers

Yair Lapid, newly installed as Alternate Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, declared that the Jerusalem Flag March neither represented Judaism nor Israel despite the waving of the flag with the Star of David that has come to...

Aug 18, 2017, 11:51 AM

The many sides of love: facing Charlottesville with conviction

"Amazing Grace" is being sung at the memorial service for the woman murdered in Charlottesville by a man cleaving to Nazi ideology and white supremacist organizations. Like the killer who gunned down nine parishioners of Mother Emanuel church in...

Feb 3, 2017, 8:35 PM

Praying from the Walls of the Heart and from the Heart of the Walls

Building a wall or tearing one down. The question has taken on new urgency. On one side are the promises and the orders - a high wall to protect the southern border, a wall of tariffs to hold back the...

Oct 24, 2015, 10:43 AM

A Sacred Place for Peace: For the 20th Yartzeit of Yitzchak Rabin

Twenty years ago, as he exited a rally for peace in the square that now bears his name, Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin was shot and killed by Yigal Amir, a Jew violently opposed to relinquishing control of any of...

Oct 9, 2015, 9:12 PM

The Blood of Our Brothers and Sisters Cry Out

Since the beginning of October, blood has been shed every day. Four Israelis have been murdered, Rabbi Eitam and Naama Henkin in front of their children near the settlement of Itamar and Rabbi Nehemia Lavie and Aharon Benita, in...

Feb 20, 2015, 5:36 AM

The Joy of Absurdity and the Absurdity of Joy [A tribute to Matt Eisenfeld and Sara Duker for their 19th Yahrtzeit]

Today marks the new month of Adar which is an occasion unlike any other on the Jewish calendar. The Sages say "When the month of Adar enters, we increase our joy" But why should this month merit such a...

Dec 2, 2014, 11:23 PM

Wrestling with the Jewish State

At first glance a law defining Israel as a “Jewish nation state” would seem to reflect the core of what Israel means to the Jewish people, not a radical proposal that has drawn bitter controversy within Israeli society and beyond. After...

Nov 19, 2014, 11:50 PM

Anguish and Anger after Har Nof

Blood, soaked into the ritual garments and streaked on the floors, marks the place where the lives of five human beings were torn away. Four of them were devout Jews in the midst of their prayers in Kehilat Bnei...

Oct 12, 2014, 10:32 AM

Coming out for Sukkot

Leaving what is familiar. Putting yourself in a place that is vulnerable. Proudly displaying the symbols of who you are. Coming out. These are the key elements of the celebration of Sukkot, the annual festival during which the Israelites...

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About Me

Rabbi Michael Bernstein is the spiritual leader of Congregation Gesher L’Torah in Alpharetta, Ga. Michael received his ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1999 and is an alumni of the Rabbis Without Borders second cohort. and was inducted into the Martin Luther King Board of Preachers at Morehouse College. Michael specializes in Jewish philosophy, especially that of Emmanuel Levinas and focuses on how to see the directives inherent in Jewish tradition as meaningful, ethical, and relevant.