Plant Today, Reap Tomorrow

June 1

Addressing high-ranking officials during his inaugural speech on May 19, 2019, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, “I don’t want my portraits to hang in your offices, because the president is not an icon or an idol. Hang pictures of your children there and look them in the eyes before every decision.”

---

What’s at the core of our Jewish identities?

May 3

In 1982, Rabbi David Hartman wrote a powerful essay titled, “Auschwitz or Sinai?” There, Hartman asks himself about the defining event that should be shaping our Jewish identities today. 

---

THE ABRAHAM ACCORDS and The NEGEV SUMMIT NEW REGIONAL ARCHITECTURE

May 3

By Avi Poster 

---

Nurturing Fins and Scales in our Children

May 2

Recently, we read on Shabbat about the laws of kashrut, and we learned of the two characteristics which render creatures of the sea Kosher. It is stated in the Book of Leviticus, chapter 11, “These shall you eat of all that are in the waters: whatever has fins and scales.” 

---

On Brokenness and repair

March 30

There is no doubt that, if you are a child, your favorite part of the Passover Seder is related to the Afikoman. Technically speaking, Afikoman is not a very Jewish word. Like Karpas – which is Greek for fresh raw vegetables or for what we define as hors d’ouvres – Afikoman is one of those terms that remind us that the Passover Seder was a spin-off of the Greco-Roman symposium, the Hellenistic drinking party where men came to debate, plot, and boast with each other. 

---

Who Am I?

March 29

Sometimes you have to smile. With all the misery piling up from day to day in the ongoing Ukraine saga, there was one light moment. A newscaster in India was interviewing two guests about the crisis. One was an American analyst, the other an editor from a Kiev newspaper. The two guests were broadcasting from different locations and were represented by their own window on the screen. They were identified by the name on their respective windows. The American - as identified by his name - was talking nonstop. This irritated the newscaster who really wanted to hear from the man in Kiev. When the American ignored him, the newscaster challenged him, including by insulting him, and his presumed association with Western ‘colonial’ policy over many decades and centuries. But the American just carried on talking. 

---

My Covid Eulogy, Two Years Later

February 23

Wow, who would have ever imagined this, we are just about to mark the second Yahrzeit of Covid19. (Unfortunately, it is still very much here... but you know what I mean). So, here's my eulogy, two years later. 

---

On effective leadership

February 23

In the Talmud, the basic unit of meaningful learning is the chevrutah, or studying with a partner. All throughout the classic Jewish sources we see Rabbis coming together to discuss different topics. The most famous of these rabbinic pairs was the one put together by Hillel and Shammai. They were so important and influential that two different schools were created after them. For years, the students attending those schools continued to disagree with one another. It is out of their many disagreements that we got some of the fundamental contours of Jewish law. 

---

The Federation of The Future

February 22

Alarmingly, Federation donations, in terms of the number of donors, has been in a serious decline for decades. In Nashville, the annual campaign figures have neither significantly increased over the past decade, nor has the level or the amount of giving kept up with the rate of inflation. 

---

On Polarization

January 27

At times, the Talmud can be a bit technical. Pages over pages with discussions that can test the patience of those willing to spend some time learning from this ancient fountain of wisdom. Sometimes it can be hard to just keep it up. And yet, in the midst of so much argument and debate on any given subject, if you pay close attention, you may discover wonderful insights that continue to be relevant in our days. 

---

On Faith and Science

December 28

[1] 

---

Let’s Talk About an Uncomfortable Topic

December 28

There are many conversations that people are comfortable to talk about. There are those conversations that people shy away from. Today, let’s have a conversation about an uncomfortable topic: dying. 

---