by Rabbi Joshua M. Davidson Originally published in The Times of Israel, The Blogs – December 10, 2020. The holidays tend to come with their own special stories with memorable characters like Ebenezer Scrooge, Hershel (and his Chanukah Goblins), and Buddy the Elf. This year, being different in so many ways, calls for a different …
On Wednesday, November 11, Tikkun Olam Volunteers assembled 600 Thanksgiving Breakfast Bags for Lenox Hill House and Sanctuary for Families. Each year Tikkun Olam hosts an annual Thanksgiving Dinner at the temple (on the day before the holiday) for senior citizens and women and children from local homeless and domestic violence shelters. However, with the Coronavirus pandemic, …
by Rabbi Joshua M. Davidson Originally published in The Times of Isreal, The Blogs – November 16, 2020. “And it came to pass at the turning of the year, the season when kings go off to battle, that David instead sent Joab….” So begins II Samuel 11, and the story of David and Bathsheba. Idling at …
by Rabbi Joshua M. Davidson Tomorrow morning we will awaken to the aftermath of one of the most significant elections in American history. And the coming days and weeks may find our country divided against itself, with many on edge fearing maneuvers to undermine the vote, angry demonstrations, and violence in our streets. Wednesday also …
by Rabbi Joshua M. Davidson Forward — October 27, 2020 I remember as a young child how my parents would take me with them into the voting booth to teach me not just how all the levers worked, but how democracy worked. For Jews of an earlier America, voting was a sacred privilege. Our immigrant …
a sacred act that protects all that you value! We praise You, Eternal God, Sovereign of the universe, who calls us to holiness and commands us to pursue tzedek (justice). Here is how to make your voice heard — decide how you will vote: Vote in person during the nine early voting days: Saturday, October …
Opinion by Rabbi Joshua M. Davidson CNN.com — Thursday, September 17, 2020 Austrian neurologist, psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl once said, “When we are no longer able to change a situation… we are challenged to change ourselves.” This had been a theme of the Jewish people long before Frankl so beautifully articulated it, and the …
Sunday, September 20, 2020 — 4:00 PM Rabbi Davidson joins other east-side Rabbis in participating in Shofar In The Streets. Rabbi Davidson will be blowing the shofar in front of our Fifth Avenue sanctuary doors. All are welcome. Event flyer below:
Temple Emanu-El is proud to join the #StopHateforProfit campaign alongside the NAACP and ADL, as well as countless other brands. We will halt all paid advertisements on Facebook and Instagram, effective immediately, through at least the end of July, pending meaningful action. Thank you to all of our followers and members for your support.
From the 2019 9th Grade Civil Rights Journey in Montgomery, Alabama All of us share a desire for our children to be fearless advocates for justice and empathy. In times like these, it is difficult to know how to draw the line between addressing current events directly and shielding those we love from the world’s …
June 2, 2020 Watching the scene unfold at the White House last night was gut wrenching. Right on cue, as President Trump called for law enforcement to dominate America’s streets, police fired teargas and rubber bullets into a nearby crowd of peaceful demonstrators to clear his path to Saint John’s Episcopal Church where he posed …
May 31, 2020 Like all of you I was struck by the images flooding the television screen this weekend, some poignant in their contrast. How the pictures of a serene Earth taken from the Crew Dragon capsule belied the agony convulsing America’s streets! Jewish tradition speaks of tikkun olam bemalchut Shaddai, “unifying our world with the world …
