Remembering Pittsburgh: Mourning and Honoring the Dead
I am a person who is full of words. I am a writer, a poet, a sermonizer, a blogger, a …
Author Archives: SRQ Jew
Embracing Paradox
One of the fascinating things about Judaism is the religion’s acceptance of contradictions, its willingness to embrace paradoxes and ambiguities. …
Yom Kippur, Going Home, and Baseball
The Yom Kippur prayers talk a lot about asking God to take us back, to let us do teshuvah, which …
Life Lessons from Construction Workers
I live in a neighborhood that is so new, all the houses haven’t been built yet. There used to be …
Prayer
Years ago I taught in a program for Jewish teens. When we got to the class on prayer I said …
The Truth About the Torah? It’s Complicated
Laws, laws, laws. The Torah is stuffed with them. Some make perfect sense and help us to be better people, …
“You Shall Not Judge Unfairly”
“You shall not judge unfairly… Justice, justice you shall pursue.” If I was asked to sum up the Torah in ten …
Sharing Joy
Remember the song, “When you’re happy and you know it… and you really want to show it…”? It tells us …
Loyal Americans: A Letter to the President
Dear Mr. President, This is what loyal Americans look like. Americans who are Jewish and gentile and Muslim and every …
Giving Thanks
When do we say “thank you”? Usually when we receive a gift. But the Torah wants to remind us to …
SRQ Jew 