Yechiel Shaffer

Building Jewish Communities

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Oct 4, 2022, 10:30 AM

Yona’s Story: An Ode to Teachers and Our Dad

Rabbi Ian and Machla Shaffer

Yona’s extraordinary story, his flight from before God, and his dogged determination to undermine Nineveh’s repentance, raises significant questions about our assumptions on leadership, prophecy and repentance. To raise these questions on the last moments before Ne’ilah should put...

May 19, 2022, 11:45 PM

The Jewish Farmer: A Role Model for Bnai Mitzvah

For a while, many of us were engaged in a conversation about how smachot will be different following COVID. We hoped smachot might be more deliberate and thoughtful going forward. The choice to celebrate an occasion one way or...

Dec 3, 2020, 8:27 PM

What Vayishlach Teaches Us about Building a Community

On the evening before his confrontation with Eisav, Yaakov takes his family over the Jabbok River, and returns to the other side of the river bank, alone, to collect his final possessions. The Torah tells us that it is...

Nov 25, 2020, 11:42 PM

What Vayetze Teaches us about Building a Community Culture

At the beginning of Vayetze, Yaakov famously dreams of angels ascending and descending a ladder that stretches from the Earth to the Heavens. This story has captured the imagination of artists, and dreamers for generations. It is a wonderful...

Nov 20, 2020, 8:03 AM

What Toldot Teaches us about Building a Community Culture

How are we supposed to have a community in the middle of a pandemic? When the invisible impact we have on each other is so obvious, we need to weigh, and examine the elements of community that are essential -...

Aug 11, 2020, 11:23 PM

Seeing is believing?

What is faith in a generation that doesn't see God split the sea? What is faith for a generation that didn't witness the giving of the Torah? The Manna from Heaven? What is faith during Hester Panim - a...

May 14, 2020, 8:07 PM

Playing with Fire: Opening Up a Mikdash (Me’at)

This week we conclude our study of the book of Vayikra (Leviticus). So much of this book is atypical of our regular Torah study experience. It is within the book of Vayikra we have for us the most significant warning...

Mar 31, 2020, 7:16 AM

The Seder: An act of listening

Passover Dinner

One of the most important positions I hold in my Rabbinic profession is participating on the board of CHANA Baltimore, an organization that finds way to support spouses who find themselves in abusive relationships. As each of our communities...

Aug 21, 2017, 10:26 PM

Mt. Grizzim: A Response to Charlottesville

I wonder these days how much fear controls our lives and thoughts. Many of us will remember the fear we felt during the first intifada… Do we still travel to Israel? Do we take buses once we are there? Do...

Jul 12, 2017, 9:41 AM

1Book1PJC: A Summer Reading Project

In concluding my first week as Rabbi of the PIkesville Jewish Congregation (www.pikesvillejewish.com), a young, and fairly new community nestled in the heart of the large Baltimore Jewish community, I'm enamoured by the next generation of Jews leading this...

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About Me

Formerly the Rabbi of the Pikesville Jewish Congregation, Assistant Rabbi of Cong. Ohab Zedek in NYC, and Assistant Rabbi of The Hampton Synagogue, Rabbi Yechiel Shaffer is the Founding Campus Rabbi of the Jewish Leadership Academy (JLA). JLA (jlamiami.org) is a brand new prep school opening in August 2023, offering the Jewish community's brightest students a robust educational program and a cutting edge campus, in the heart of Miami, to achieve their academic goals.

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