Latest Blog Posts

Open Letter to the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Board of Governors
April 8, 2022An open letter supporting the recommendations for a path forward for Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Read more
Leadership in a Time of Crisis: Resources for Rabbis
February 17, 2022Reflections When the Rabbi Feels Trauma in CCAR’s Journal of Reform Judaism (Fall 2019) By Rabbi Paul Kipnes So That’s What Rabbis Do: A Rabbinic Student Reflects on a Synagogue’s Fire Response By (then Rabbinic Student, now) Rabbi Elana Nemitoff-Bresler After the Fires: Celebrating Thanksgiving When Homes are Lost or… Read more

When the Rabbi Feels Trauma
February 15, 2022A mass shooting in a Pittsburgh synagogue.A mass shooting in the local dance bar.A raging fire, forcing the evacuation of the synagogue and 75 percent of our congregation. This is the story of when the rabbi experienced trauma after these events. Read more

Parenting: The Challenging of Letting Go (spoken word poetry)
October 15, 2021In this spoken word poem, explore how Abraham’s parents might have felt as he went off from Haran to the Promised Land, in search of his future. Read more

God Damn You, God! Taking God to Task in a Messed Up World
September 30, 2021What’s with the raging wildfires and destructive flooding, the mass shootings and mindless meanness all around? How many more need to die to motivate Your mercy, to finally get You to act on our behalf? What the heck is going on with You, God? Read more

Rabbi, Do You Have a Faith That Gets You Through?
September 17, 2021How I found faith that got me through these tumultuous years. Read more

Guided Meditation: I Know I’m Not Alone
September 9, 2021A guided meditation on the notion that we are not alone, created to respond to the pervasive isolation people have been feeling in the Covid-19 pandemic. Read more

Kindergarten Wisdom for an Adult World
September 8, 2021May we be written for a good year in the Book of Life! And perhaps that will happen if we go back to basics. If we go back to kindergarten and be our best selves. Read more

After Death: 8 Ways to Help
July 9, 2021When both my parents and mother-in-law died within 20 months, everyone wanted to help. Yet I wasn’t ready to receive. Here are 8 ways to help that supported me until I was ready for me. Read more