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Oct 5, 2026, 11:30 AM

Nobody Wants Dis-agreement

Adam Brody said something about Israel. That should not be a remarkable sentence. He is an American citizen, an actor and a Jew. Jews have been saying things about Israel—and arguing with one another about those things—for considerably longer...

Sep 24, 2026, 5:41 AM

The Sephardic Voice the Jewish World Needs

This past August, around 150 rabbis and community leaders from a dozen countries gathered at the UJA-Federation in New York for the second Sephardic Rabbinic Conference. There were representatives from over 13 U.S. States and delegations from Canada, Mexico,...

Sep 23, 2026, 10:59 AM

Up from Punxsutawney

Wikimedia Commons

In 1934, when he was 17, my Dad alav hashalom got his first Yomim Noro'im job (Ashkenozis intended) in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, northeast of Pittsburgh. If Punxsutawney sounds not just silly but familiar, that is because Punxsutawney Phil, the famous groundhog,...

Steven Windmueller

Sep 22, 2026, 6:24 PM

The Changing Face of the American Rabbinate: An Outsider’s Perspective

The role and public profile of the American rabbinate are undergoing a fundamental transformation. In previous generations, prominent rabbis were often known as commanding orators, influential institutional leaders, and respected public voices. Many occupied positions of considerable stature both...

Sep 17, 2026, 8:32 PM

I Miss the Mistakes

I miss typos. I miss misspelled words, sentences that go on too long and emails that end without quite knowing how to end. I miss bulletin articles with clumsy transitions. I miss sermons that take a strange turn because...

Sep 3, 2026, 5:04 AM

How to Get Kicked Out of Camp and Remain Religiously Intact – Part II

Continued from Part I Before packing our belongings, our group of five needed to let our parents know that we’d be coming home earlier than expected. While I don’t know how the other guys broke the news to their parents,...

Sep 2, 2026, 10:23 PM

The Night Before, The Night Before Rosh Hashanah

Poor guy, how is he going to get to sleep?

Twas the night before the night before Rosh Hashanah and all through the land, the rabbis were schvitzing, were their services all planned? Were the sermons long enough to make people know that it was not Shabbos they were there...

Sep 2, 2026, 9:03 PM

Tradition Meets Medicine: Why Europe’s New Mohel Certification Matters

2012 by Zviya, Used with permission Creative Commons

The news breaking out of Brussels this week caught my eye, and it struck me that what began as a legal crisis in Belgium might just be a blessing in disguise. According to a report in Times of Israel, European...

Sep 2, 2026, 8:51 PM

Nitzavim–Vayelech: No Violence in the Name of Torah or the Land

Near the end of Parashat Nitzavim, Moses makes an enigmatic statement: “The hidden things belong to the Lord our God, but the revealed things belong to us and to our children forever, to fulfill all the words of this Torah”...

Sep 2, 2026, 5:16 AM

How to Get Kicked Out of Camp and Remain Religiously Intact – Part I

I’m proud to have recently completed my tenth year as the Rabbi of the Young Israel of Memphis (TN). During that time, it’s also been a privilege to teach Torah to high school students at Memphis’ Cooper Yeshiva of...

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