Samuel Stern, at The Blogs

May 2, 2026, 12:25 AM

The progressive Democratic faction that has it in for Israel and Zionism is no longer fringe: Its new Maine Senate candidate, Graham Platner, is a risky vote for Jews

Feb 15, 2026, 5:07 PM

Reform Judaism Chose Zionism. That Was Not a Mistake.

There is a strange argument making the rounds in certain progressive Jewish circles. It goes something like this: Reform Judaism's embrace of Zionism was a historical accident, an overcorrection born of trauma, and the movement would be healthier if...

Oct 1, 2025, 10:34 PM

The International Scapegoat

The easiest way to avoid repentance is to blame someone else. The very first people were the very first example of this, when Adam HaRishon blamed Chava for giving him fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. If all my...

Sep 16, 2025, 8:24 PM

Hope is a Jewish Word

There’s a heaviness in the air right now. You can feel it in the conversations after services, in the worried glances at the news, in the questions I've received asking if it’s safe to wear a Star of David...

Sep 11, 2025, 4:58 PM

A Wake Up Call from the Heartland

A Mural painted by the youth of Temple Beth Sholom, Topeka, KS. (Sam Stern)

This has been a bruising week for America’s soul. We’ve been confronted, through screens that never turn off, with stabbing, assassination, and the echoes of September 11th. Once again, we’ve watched the very worst thing: human beings made in...

Jun 13, 2025, 2:49 PM

Saving Lives, Saving Worlds

An Israeli flag hangs from a Jewish home in Kansas. (Samuel Stern)

Last night’s decisive Israeli operation against Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and military leadership wasn’t merely strategic; it was profoundly Jewish. In a sweeping action combining over 200 fighter jets, extensive cyber operations, and a daring Mossad-led drone base operating covertly within...

May 24, 2025, 1:56 AM

Liberty’s Inscription Is Ours, Too

“Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” —Leviticus 25:10, inscribed on the Liberty Bell On this Memorial Day weekend, as we read Parashat Behar, we find ourselves confronted by both ancient wisdom and present sorrow. This week’s...

May 22, 2025, 11:38 PM

The Cost of Lies

Last night, Sarah Milgrim—a Reform Jew from Overland Park, Kansas—and her soon-to-be fiancé, Yaron Lischinsky, fell victim to a lone-wolf terrorist. He was radicalized by a torrent of lies portraying Israel not as a nation defending its citizens but...

Apr 30, 2025, 6:52 AM

Don’t Stand Idly By – Vote

Photo of Beit Samueli in Ra'anana taken in February 2022. (Samuel Stern)

As Israel stood hushed in remembrance of its fallen on Yom HaZikaron, a dark note intruded upon national mourning. At the Reform synagogue Beit Samueli in Ra’anana, a screening of the joint Israeli–Palestinian Memorial Day ceremony erupted into chaos...

Apr 29, 2025, 7:29 PM

From the Heartland with Hope

With feelings from Topeka to our friends in family in Tel Aviv, we Jews of America’s heartland will also observe Yom HaZikaron tonight and, when darkness falls tomorrow, Yom Ha’atzma’ut as well. We won’t hear a nationwide siren, but...

About Me

Samuel Stern is the rabbi of Temple Beth Sholom of Topeka, Kansas. Ordained by HUC-JIR in Los Angeles in 2021, Rabbi Stern has participated in numerous fellowships, including with AIPAC, the One America Movement, and the Shalom Hartman Institute, and has been published in the quarterly journal of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. He currently is an Amplify Israel Fellow and serves at the pleasure of the Governor of Kansas as co-chair of the State of Kansas Holocaust Commission.

Contact Me