Category: Uncategorized
-
Passover and Parash Tzav: It's No Shame
Monday evening Jews around the world will gather with families, friends and neighbors for our Seders to tell the story of Passover. The word “seder” is related to the word we use for our prayer book, “siddur”. Both come from the Hebrew root meaning “order”. Just as the Siddur presents our prayers in a particular…
-
Some Reflections on "Chad Gadya"
In 1947, in the wake of the United Kingdom’s decision to relinquish their Mandate for Palestine, the United Nations formed the Special Committee on Palestine. The purpose of the commission was to investigate the conflict in Palestine and to make a recommendation on future governance of the area. David Ben Gurion, the future Prime Minister…
-
Shabbat Ha-Chodesh: Acts of Defiance
Last night Middy and I went to Chicago’s Symphony Hall to hear a program called “Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezin”. This was a benefit concert for the Jewish United Fund /Jewish Federation of Chicago Holocaust Community Services program. This program helps Holocaust survivors in Chicagoland to live out their sunset years with hope and dignity.…
-
Jewish-Muslim Dialogue
A few weeks ago I delivered a sermon on four common misunderstandings about Judaism. It was rather well received, and many of you commented that you learned something new about our own religion! This week I attended a talk sponsored by the Chicago Board of Rabbis that addressed specifically Muslim misunderstandings about Jews. The talk…
-
The Challenge of Purim
We begin our celebration of Purim tomorrow evening with our Megillah reading. On Sunday morning with our Purim carnival. Purim is a story for the ages. Haman, the villain of the story, is the archetypical anti-Semite, the kind of government official that we have seen often in Jewish history. He is a wicked man whose…
-
Parasha Mishpatim — Confronting Hatred
Early this February, four Muslim women rang the door to our synagogue. Alzeena Saleem, Sabrina Zubair, Saima Mussani and Seema Zafar were extremely alarmed and upset about the recent spate of bomb threats called in to Jewish Community Centers throughout the United States. Over the course of three days in January, forty eight JCCs in…
-
Four Common Misunderstandings about Judaism
On Tuesday afternoon I was invited to speak on a luncheon panel entitled “Dialogue among the Abrahamic Religions” sponsored by the Muslim Student Association at North Central College. The other panelists were Eric Doolittle, chaplain at North Central College, who represented Christianity, and Aadil Farid, immediate past president of the Islamic Center of Naperville. We…
-
Parasha Toldot — Raising Children
I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving with family and friends. Middy and I spent the holiday in Connecticut with our son Mario and his wife and two children. Our son Ariel joined us there. On Sunday all of us guys went on a hike in a game reservation. We hiked about a mile to…
-
Lech Lecha and the Elections — Going Forward From Here
Does it not seem like a long time since the Chicago Cubs won the World Series? Last Friday night we were all gathered right here in our sanctuary celebrating the historic victory. What has happened to that spirit of joy and solidarity that we all experienced? What happened? The election of Donald Trump to the…
-
What Do Noah and Cubs Fans Have in Common?
Hank Greenberg was arguably the greatest Jewish baseball player of all time. Born, Hyman Greenberg, in 1911, he played first base for the Detroit Tigers in the 1930’s and 1940’s. Known also as “Hammerin’ Hank Greenberg and “Hankus Pankus”, Greenberg is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 1934, Greenberg, his team in…
Rabbi Marc D. Rudolph 