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Jan 9, 2021, 12:44 AM

Moshe Had a God

There is an expression in Israeli slang – “ein lo elohim,” literally, “he doesn’t have a god.” It describes someone who has no boundaries, generally does whatever they want, whatever is in their best interest, whatever is convenient for...

May 18, 2020, 12:14 AM

Rav Cherlow on Risk Management and Reopening Society

Most synagogues, including my own, have been considering the question of "reopening" and returning to community life from our narrow lens as a synagogue. However, local, state, and national governments have many more factors to consider than synagogues do...

Apr 28, 2020, 7:00 PM

How do we respond?

In the second verse of Acharei Mot, God begins detailing some laws of sacrifices. וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהוָ֜ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֗ה דַּבֵּר֮ אֶל־אַהֲרֹ֣ן אָחִיךָ֒ וְאַל־יָבֹ֤א בְכָל־עֵת֙ אֶל־הַקֹּ֔דֶשׁ מִבֵּ֖ית לַפָּרֹ֑כֶת אֶל־פְּנֵ֨י הַכַּפֹּ֜רֶת אֲשֶׁ֤ר עַל־הָאָרֹן֙ וְלֹ֣א יָמ֔וּת כִּ֚י בֶּֽעָנָ֔ן אֵרָאֶ֖ה עַל־הַכַּפֹּֽרֶת׃ The LORD said to Moses: Tell...

Apr 18, 2019, 10:25 PM

What Makes Us Human

“I will harden his heart so that he will not let them go.” If it were up to Pharaoh alone, he may have let the Jewish people free long before the tenth plague. God said that He would “harden his...

Mar 1, 2019, 8:04 PM

Akiva Shtisel, Betzalel, and Developing Our Creative Instincts

Thursday’s NY Times recommended an unlikely show that they deemed “bingeworthy.” The show is Shtisel. The protagonist of the show is Akiva, a young creative man and aspiring artist who struggles amidst the strictures of strictures of the haredi...

Nov 1, 2018, 6:54 PM

Abraham’s Test is Our Test

Our rabbis (Pirkei Avot 5:3) teach us that Abraham faced ten “tests” and withstood them all. What were those tests? Almost all the commentaries agree on the first several tests. And almost everyone believes that Akeidat Yitzchak, God’s command...

Sep 7, 2018, 5:06 AM

This Shabbat, We Do Not Bless the New Month

On the Shabbat that precedes each new month on the Jewish calendar, we usually recite a special prayer (Birkat Ha-Chodesh) blessing the upcoming month. There is one exception: the Shabbat that precedes Rosh Hashanah. Why? The simplest answer has to...

Aug 20, 2018, 8:55 PM

Do Not Stray Left or Right from Rabbi Google

This past Shabbat morning at Congregation Beth Abraham-Jacob, I delivered a sermon entitled Do Not Stray Left or Right from Rabbi Google: Rabbinic Authority in the Internet Age. I discussed perspectives on Lo Tasur, in short, the Torah-granted authority of the...

Jun 18, 2018, 11:03 PM

Korach and The Incredibles

In the original Incredibles, the villain is Syndrome. As a child, he had been a superhero fanatic, but Mr. Incredible rejected him as his sidekick. As he has no superpowers of his own, he now uses his scientific knowledge...

May 27, 2018, 6:55 AM

Philip Roth and Orthodox Jewry

Philip Roth, Towering Novelist Who Explored Lust, Jewish Life and America, Dies at 85. That New York Times obituary has an entire section entitled, Irritating the Rabbis, about his 1959 first collection of stories, Goodbye, Columbus. “It won the National Book...

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About Me

Roy Feldman is Rabbi of Congregation Beth Abraham-Jacob in Albany, New York. Prior to that, he was Assistant Rabbi at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun in New York City and taught Judaic studies at the Ramaz Upper School. He has studied at and holds degrees from Yeshivat Petach Tikva, Columbia University, and Yeshiva University. Rabbi Feldman believes that a rabbi’s primary role in the twenty-first century is to articulate, embody, and exemplify the reasons why traditional Judaism remains relevant today.