Neil Winkler

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Jul 7, 2016, 9:09 PM

Reacting to Reactions

“For the righteous may fall repeatedly but they arise again” Undoubtedly, one of the more challenging biblical episodes I have had to teach middle school students over the past 40 years is that of King David and Bat-Sheva. Clearly, every...

May 11, 2016, 3:05 PM

Discovering Ourselves

“We went out searching for our boys……and we discovered ourselves” This week is a very emotional one in the Jewish calendar - especially here in Israel. Yom HaShoah, Yom HaZikaron and Yom Ha’Atzma’ut, 3 days of memorials and celebrations, that...

Oct 21, 2015, 10:23 PM

V’Ha’ikar, Lo L’fached Klal – Most importantly, do not fear at all!

In 1967, one month after the conclusion of the Six-Day War, I visited Israel for the first time. Clearly, the visit made a deep emotional impact and a lasting impression on me. But one of the lighter moments I...

Oct 3, 2015, 9:27 PM

“V’samachta B’chagecha,” “Moadim L’simcha,” the buses in Israel proclaim the wish for a happy, joyous holiday to all from the front and rear of each bus. As soon as Yom Kippur ends and the public transportation resumes these holiday...

Sep 17, 2015, 11:36 AM

Israel and Kids

I woke to the unusual sound of a police bullhorn blaring directives to, I assumed, a reluctant driver. I walked out of my apartment some time later to witness a traffic jam in front of my building. And I returned from...

Jul 22, 2015, 8:03 PM

‘Why Are We Still Fasting?’

The Three Weeks For twenty years before our recent aliya, my wife and I spent each summer in Israel. And so, sitting in our apartment during July and enjoying the cooling Jerusalem breeze is not one of those unique, new...

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About Me

Rabbi Neil Winkler, founding rabbi of the Young Israel of Fort Lee, is a musmach of R.I.E.T.S. and a graduate of Yeshiva College and Bernard Revel Graduate School. He served the Fort Lee, N.J. community for 36 years and taught Jewish Studies in the Moriah School of Englewood as Coordinator of Tanach studies. Rabbi Winkler is the author of “Bringing the Prophets to Life,” an overview of the Early Prophets.