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William Hamilton

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Jun 5, 2026, 5:47 PM

An Ouch That Became Healing

“My son was actually upset with me,” Iris told us this week. Why was he upset? Because he felt less loved than his brother and sister were. Everything was harder for 20-year-old Yotam who grew up struggling with many...

May 29, 2026, 6:13 PM

Thus Shall You Bless

A tender father-son moment with Hersh appears at the end of Rachel Polin-Goldberg’s new book. Twice every Shabbat morning, Jon would cover Hersh in his Tallit for the Priestly Blessing. Jon provides a glimpse of the thousands of intimate...

Apr 24, 2026, 5:41 PM

There’s no shortage of blame in today’s world. With so much that’s wrong, it’s not surprising that there’s more than enough to go around. We blame leaders who mislead. Anyone who is careless with their responsibilities. Yes, decision-makers who...

Apr 10, 2026, 6:32 PM

What to learn from a Story

A true story. Back in the 1970s a Soviet Jew seated at a Moscow Seder table felt an urge. He recalled a fellow Jew who’d been imprisoned for secretly teaching Hebrew. His urge was to bring him a small...

Mar 27, 2026, 7:19 PM

Back to the Aspiration Business

A six-year-old child recently described the Seder’s four children like this. “There’s one who’s good. One who’s naughty. And two more who listen.” I love this take on the simple and un-asking children. It actually got me to listen...

Mar 13, 2026, 5:13 PM

Inviting Hannah Senesh To This Year’s Seder

The world knows Anne Frank. Israelis also know another young woman named Hannah Senesh. Anne once wrote that people are “truly good at heart.” Hannah, who parachuted back into 1944-Nazi Europe, “knew many people aren’t good at all and...

Feb 6, 2026, 5:49 PM

Levers that Lift the Spirit

“He doesn’t make much of hate,” writes Matti Friedman in his forthcoming Out of the Sky. He’s talking about Enzo, a husband and father of three, who parachuted back into Nazi-occupied Europe in 1944. “Zionism is a positive vision...

Jan 30, 2026, 4:21 PM

Biblical Proportions

After months of searching, after examining 249 bodies in a Gaza cemetery, Ron Gvili was found and returned home this week. The burying is over. The building can now begin. But how? Where shall we look for our core...

Jan 23, 2026, 6:36 PM

‘Because They Give Me Strength’

Released hostage Eli Shurabi shares the following story. In dark, dehumanizing captivity, he tells three younger captives. “The mossad is thinking about us day and night. We’re the only thing they care about and the only thing on their...

Jan 16, 2026, 6:06 PM

The Shortest Distance Between People

“I will send forth the full force of these plagues into your heart” God warns Pharaoh in this week’s portion of Torah (Ex. 9:14). This particular warning that the plagues will infect Pharaoh’s heart (el leeb-cha) occurs during the...

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About Me

Rabbi William Hamilton has served as rabbi (mara d'atra) of Kehillath Israel in Brookline, MA since 1995.