Yakir Englander, at The Blogs

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Apr 17, 2024, 1:34 AM

On the Mental Trauma of the Tribe of Levi

A D’var Torah for Parashat Metzorah, Dedicated to the memory of Daniel Yaakov and Yael This week's Torah portion describes a “backdoor” entry into understanding the priesthood and the Tribe of Levi. Acts of Temple worship like the offering of sacrifices...

Feb 19, 2024, 11:58 PM

The Thin Line Between Laughter and Mockery – The Role of Humor in the Gaza War

The Book of Exodus describes how the Children of Israel cross through the Red Sea, then see the parted waters crash back, obliterating the Egyptian army. In response, the Israelites burst into a song of gratitude to the Divine,...

Oct 27, 2023, 1:00 AM

This grieving sermon was delivered in a Black church in Philadelphia on October 22nd, in response to the recent Hamas attacks on Israel. Dear friends, my name is Yakir Englander, and I represent the Israeli-American community. On October 7th, thousands...

Oct 19, 2023, 6:13 AM

After the Flood: Coping with Post-Trauma

It was morning in the Mount Scopus neighborhood of Jerusalem, near the Hebrew University campus. Up early, I was preparing to make my first presentation as a university student participating in a course on Carl Jung. I was analyzing...

Aug 3, 2023, 7:11 PM

Intimacy and Violence in Parashat Eikev

This week's Torah portion (Parashat Eikev – Deut. 7:12ff.) opens with the words: "And it shall be, because you will listen to these judgments and keep and perform them, that the LORD your God will keep for you the...

Feb 16, 2023, 8:14 AM

Yearning for Divine Intimacy, and the Call of Ordinary Life

The weekly Torah portion – Parashat Mishpatim – opens with a long list of laws governing daily life. On the face of it, there is no hint of the previous portion’s numinous encounter between the People of Israel and...

Oct 20, 2022, 6:47 AM

What Cain learned

'Cain and His Family, Wandering,' by Paolo Veronese. (Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

God teaches the world’s first brothers to compete for love and to desire slaughter - is it any wonder the murderous older brother turns his back on the Divine?

Oct 9, 2022, 5:41 AM

Failing to Pray – the Power of Community

I tried to pray on both days of Rosh Hashana, an effort that, most of the time, was simply unsuccessful. This was not the first time I have had this experience. With time and maturity, I realize that belief...

Jul 5, 2022, 9:45 PM

The Sabra Who Dares to Grow Old

About a week ago, a side story was published about Jonathan Avrech, who served as a paratrooper on the Golan Heights in the Yom Kippur War. During a respite after an exhausting week of fighting, Jonathan's eyes caught those...

Apr 8, 2022, 6:00 PM

Female Israeli-American Rabbi!

Yesterday, the Israeli-American community got a gift -- Anat Katzir, who grew up in Haifa as an Israeli secular woman, was ordained as a rabbi. Here are the words I wrote her as I had the gift to announce...

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About Me

Dr. Yakir Englander is working to create Jewish and Israeli leadership in the US at the IAC. Originally from the ultra-Orthodox community of Israel, the Viznitz Hasidic dynasty, Englander earned a Ph.D. from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in Jewish philosophy and gender studies. He is a Fulbright scholar and was a visiting professor of Religion at Northwestern and Rutgers universities and Harvard Divinity School. In addition, he was a Shalom Hartman scholar in Jerusalem. Englander served as the Jerusalem director of Kids4Peace and later as the vice president of the organization. All of my blogs were translated by Dr. Henry R. Carse

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