Royi Shaffin, at The Blogs

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Aug 16, 2017, 7:34 AM

Responding to Charlottesville: Actions Not Words

"Acta non verba" (Actions not words) goes the Latin proverb. Although words have great power, sometimes you must look at a situation, analyze it, decide what to do about it and act. I am referring of course to the obvious...

May 28, 2017, 11:08 PM

The Hungarian Holocaust

FILM REVIEW “Walking With the Enemy”: The Hungarian Holocaust Up Close and Personal “Walking With The Enemy” is not just another Holocaust film. In fact, despite its cast of mostly little-known actors and being the directorial debut of Mark Schmidt, it...

Nov 13, 2016, 11:28 PM

President-Elect Donald Trump: A Post-Election Sermon

President-elect Donald Trump. This is the first Shabbat after the presidential election so I have decided to speak about the o' so dangerous topic to discuss from the pulpit, politics. However, as someone who has a degree in political...

Oct 26, 2016, 11:45 PM

Can Star Trek Save the United Nations?

Does anyone know where I can get a flag of the United Federation of Planets? Several years ago, while working at the Survivors of the Shoah Foundation, an organization which was both part of the American Jewish community and...

Oct 2, 2016, 7:32 AM

A tribute to Shimon Peres — even though I disagreed with him

"Never again did there arise in Israel a prophet like Moses, who God had known face to face," our Torah teaches. Yes, we have Joshua and Debra and King David, great rabbis and sages, but the leadership of Moses...

Jan 25, 2016, 6:13 AM

Inspiring Jewish Environmentalism — A Response to Jay Michaelson

As a spiritual Jewish environmentalist, I have been thinking all day about Jay Michaelson's recent piece in "The Forward," "Why Most Jewish Environmentalism is Useless." While his argument for change on a macro level is indisputable, his assertion that most Jewish...

Jul 27, 2015, 9:06 AM

Building a Jerusalem temple of love and peace

My moment of being closest to God took place on a cold, snowy day in Jerusalem. It was during a break from my studies at Yeshivat Hakotel. My room was overlooking the ancient stones of the Western Wall and...

May 12, 2015, 10:35 AM

Don’t lower the bar for the Bar Mitzvah

There has been a lot of discussion recently in the rabbinic community about bar/bat mitzvah preparation. Some are claiming that bar/bat mitzvah preparation needs to be changed from emphasizing the mastery of the Haftorah (a section from the Prophets)...

May 5, 2015, 4:02 PM

Lighting Up the Future of the American Jewish Community

Paying in order to pray never felt right to me. Anyone who has been to synagogue in Israel has seen a different model in which the synagogue belongs to everyone and everyone belongs. There is no cost to membership...

Mar 1, 2015, 10:11 AM

Live Long And Prosper: Spock And Netanyahu

As we mourn the passing of Leonard Nimoy, who played the beloved pointy eared Mr. Spock on Star Trek, stories pointing to his Jewish involvement and to the Jewishness of Star Trek are proliferating all over the press and...

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About Me

Rabbi Royi Shaffin has served as a rabbi, Jewish educator, professor, writer, and public speaker for over 15 years. His writings span the full spectrum of Jewish religious and political topics. He considers himself a member of both the faith community and the community of free-thinkers. As such, he bridges the gap between religion and reason, belief and inquiry. His commentary on Israel and the Jewish world uses unique insight, satire, comedy, passion, and life experience to shed light on Israeli and Jewish life in the modern world and creating visions and possibilities for a better future.