In his 1994 book, Will We Have Jewish Grandchildren?: Jewish Continuity and How to Achieve It, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, zl, described an extraordinary predicament he once faced: The legendary author and theologian was invited to have lunch with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Simultaneously, he was also invited to partake in the London opening ceremony of a new Jewish school, to be held the same day and time as the lunch.
Incredibly, Sacks declined the Prime Ministers invitation and opted to attend the opening of the school. His reasoning? Governments sustain society, but education sustains the world, he wrote.
To those familiar with Judaisms seeming obsession with learning and its reverence for teachers, it comes as no surprise that Sacks, whose writings and lectures composed a lifelong love letter to God and Judaism, regretfully bowed out of lunch with one of the worlds most powerful leaders. Teachers open our eyes to the world, he wrote in his 2004 book, From Optimism to Hope, adding, They give us curiosity and confidence. They teach us to ask questions. They connect us to our past and future. Theyre the guardians of our social heritage. We have lots of heroes todaysportsmen, supermodels, media personalities. They come, they have their fifteen minutes of fame, and they go. But the influence of good teachers stays with us. They are the people who really shape our life.
In honor of the back-to-school season, the Jewish Journal asked various community leaders, educators, writers and thinkers one compelling question: Is there a teacher who shaped your life?
In honor of the back-to-school season, the Jewish Journal asked various community leaders, educators, writers and thinkers one compelling question: Is there a teacher who shaped your life?
Their responses, which included memories of teachers in the U.S., Canada, pre-revolutionary Iran, and Israel, spanned from the 1960s to the twenty-first century. They touched our hearts and reminded us of the precious gift of a teacher who sincerely sees us for our individual potential. Truly, the educators mentioned below are a testament to the ancient words of Alexander the Great, who wisely observed, I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well.
Rabbi Dr. David Lieber, remembered by many as president of the University of Judaism and as editor of the Etz Hayim Torah commentary, was a memorable teacher with impact far beyond the classroom. While a student at UCLAs Law School in the 1970s, I enrolled in two of Dr. Liebers Bible courses at UCLA. Dr. Lieber, the institution builder and scholar, took an interest in people, including his students, whatever the setting.
Several years later, when I weighed alternative career paths, it was Dr. Lieber, from among my teachers, whose counsel I sought. His advice, after listening intently, was to pursue that path that I considered most compelling. He offered practical guidance with respect to next steps.
When I think of Dr. Lieber, the words of the prophet Zechariah, Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, spring to mind. Dr. Liebers leadership was not by bombast but by a gently manifested focus on engaging people, individually and collectively, in meaningful Jewish learning experiences. The name Lieber, beloved in Yiddish, was descriptive of the man.
The Torah of Dr. David Lieber, as spoken and by example, is instructive decades later. For this appreciative student, its embodiment remains an aspiration.
Dr. Gil Graff, Executive Director, Builders of Jewish Education (BJE) Los Angeles
Our cherubic, white-bearded seventh-grade English teacher announced to the class that there would be a school-wide Thanksgiving speech contest. It was 1979, and my family had just escaped the Iranian revolution and landed in Beverly Hills. Still dizzy from being uprooted from everything I knew, somehow, I had the idea that I too could write an essay about being thankful. Mr. Kinny was the one who gave me the confidence, perhaps chutzpah, to tell our family story of intolerance, forced expulsion, immigration and open-armed welcome by our adopted nation. I won that contest and delivered my speech in front of the El Rodeo school audience. It was Mr. Kinny, possibly pulling strings to make sure I came out on top, who was able to overlook the language deficiencies in my story, my complete lack of awareness about the historical significance of Thanksgiving, and my broken spoken English, to encourage the new girl from Iran who had the audacity to compete for a speech contest months after her arrival in a new land the very definition of an exemplary teacher.
Sharon Nazarian, President, Younes & Soraya Nazarian Family Foundation
I have a story of a teacher that changed my life: Mr. Solomon. He was the English teacher at Hillel Hebrew Academy Jewish Day School. I was a mere nine-year-old who had just moved from Queens, New York to Beverly Hills. My parents were Holocaust survivors and wanted me to continue my Jewish day school education.
I was the new kid who arrived mid-year. It was January 1971 and I was brought into a new school and a new classroom in the middle of the year. I remember interrupting Mr. Solomons class as the principal (Rabbi Gottesman) brought me in to introduce the new student. Immediately, Mr. Solomon welcomed me and hand-picked one of his favorite students, Shirley Davidov, and literally put us together and said, in front of the whole class, You two will be friends. Sure enough, that day changed the course of my life. I was the only child of Holocaust survivors who immediately had an instant friend, whose large wonderful family embraced me, making sure I always felt loved and nourished. Shirley was my maid of honor at my wedding and I too was in hers. Mr. Solomon, through his act of kindness by looking out for the new girl, set my path to feeling held, safe and part of an extended beautiful family.
Lili Bosse, Mayor, City of Beverly Hills
I met Dr. Shlomo Bardin as a camper at Camp Alonim in 1960. For the next sixteen years until his death in 1976, I sat at his feet learning what it meant to be a Jewish educator. I learned that creating meaning was far more important than measuring. I learned that teachers must first touch the souls of their students, and only then would and could the children learn. I learned that the aroma of challah baking on Friday afternoon, singing around the Shabbat table, and a serious understanding of Torah were the keys to teaching my own children, as well as the children of our community. Most importantly, however, I learned that Judaism contained a particularistic and universal vision for humanity, and by watching Dr. Bardin, I learned how to articulate that vision. Not only has Shlomo Bardin left an indelible imprint on my life and career, but also through his vision for Jewish high school education, I helped develop three Jewish high schools in Los Angeles. Indeed, every graduate of Yeshiva University of Los Angeles High School, of Milken Community High School, and of de Toledo High School, can claim Shlomo Bardin as their teacher.
Dr. Bruce Powell, President, Jewish School Management; author (with Ron Wolfson) of Raising A+ Human Beings: Crafting a Jewish School Culture of Academic Excellence and AP Kindness.
The year was 1969; I was a freshman at UCLA. My favorite class was intermediate Hebrew. The professors name was Yigal Yannai, and he was intent upon us learning conversational rather than biblical Hebrew. To accomplish that goal, our textbook was LaMatchil, an Israeli newspaper written in simplified Hebrew. My most poignant memory is when my friend, Tobi (whom I met that year and with whom I remain the dearest of friends) and I were teamed up to pick an article to report on for our final grade; rather than an article, we selected a Moussaka recipe contained in the paper and invited our teacher and classmates to our apartment to experience our final project. Professor Yannai agreed to this plan, which no doubt is what makes him my most memorable teacher ever! Luckily, Tobis Hebrew was better than mine; together we shopped for the then-strange Middle Eastern ingredients, converted the grams and milliliters to ounces and cups, and eventually had a Moussaka casserole in the oven ready to serve as our teacher and fellow students arrived. No one got sick that night, which meant that I guess we learned what Professor Yannai hoped wed learn and then some!
Janice Kamenir-Reznik, Co-founder, Jewish World Watch and Jews United for Democracy and Justice
Her name is Becky Rivka Mark and her subject matter was the great world you could find in books while skipping class. Becky was the librarian at Chorev, the Jerusalem-based school I went to when my family moved to Israel for a spell in the 1990s. To an isolated, alienated young girl in a country I didnt understand, whose new context was wreaking havoc on what I thought was my personality, Becky was an absolute lifeline. She was kind and generous. She recommended books that I continue to re-read to this day, books that showed me that the world was so much bigger than the daled amos mine (four handbreadts a Talmudic term for a small space). She never judged me for bunking off of class and let me hide in the stacks and read and read instead of sitting through another 45 minutes of words I didnt understand. Charles Dickens, Dodie Smith, Shakespeare, Walter Scott shed recommend and Id read and then wed discuss. She never had qualms about hating a famous book you were supposed to like, and that irreverence impressed me deeply. I think about Becky all the time.
Batya Ungar-Sargon, Deputy Opinion Editor, Newsweek
One day in first grade, on a Friday, we had a substitute teacher for Jewish Studies at Stephen S. Wise Elementary school in the 1990s. She was tall and Israeli. I remember that without giving any warning, the first thing she did was to turn off all of the classroom lights. Then she proceeded to speak about Shabbat; and she kept repeating the word Shabbat, in her Hebrew accent, several times. Then, without much introduction, she took us on a journey to her childhood and proceeded to tell us of the sounds and smells of basil and other spices that were used in preparation for cooking meals for Shabbat. After her vivid explanation, she had someone pass out what seemed to be giant pieces of white construction paper and told us to write out a poem about what Shabbat meant to each of us. Her name was Gilla Nissan and I ended up connecting with her later in my twenties. It turns out that she was the parent of a friend of mine who also went to Stephen S. Wise with me; but we only found out when we went to Boston University together. Gilla taught meand still teaches me about Kabbalah, the mystical meaning of each of the Hebrew letters of the alphabet and how to meditate. But it was in that one experience in first grade that Gilla taught me the meaning of holiness, of what it means to sanctify time the meaning of Shabbat.
Rabbi Tarlan Rabizadeh, Vice President for Jewish Engagement at AJU and Director of the Maas Center for Jewish Journeys; Director of the Miller Intro to Judaism program
It was Steve Hilsabeck who made my senior year at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois especially memorable and important. His class on pop culture taught me that there are many ways to understand American history. You can do it through the study of dates and presidents and wars, but you can also do it through what might wrongly seem like disposable ephemera. Ive taken the lessons he taught in that class and turned them into a lifetime of diversion and study. He was a great charismatic teacher who never treated you like a kid but always like a person.
Rich Cohen, New York Times bestselling author, The Adventures of Herbie Cohen: Worlds Greatest Negotiator
From first grade growing up in Brookline, Massachusetts, Miss McQuaid taught with her feet as she moved around the class and made each of us feel special, and each of us couldnt wait to get to school every morning. I remember my Professor, Dr. Samuel Sandmel, at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, an International Scholar in the New Testament. His book, We Jews and Jesus: Exploring Theological Differences for Mutual Understanding, changed my thinking about the world and I set my lifes path to reach out around the world, being involved in the interfaith movement. This led me to my lifelong relationship with Rev. Jesse Jackson, as my teacher and mentor.
Rabbi Steven Jacobs, Ret. civil rights and human rights activist
We had moved to Montreal a couple years earlier from Morocco. I had fallen in love with English. I was determined to master the language. In grade six, I hit the jackpot with Mrs. Cleland, my all-time favorite teacher. She smoked and wore lots of make-up, and would spend extra time with me after class to teach me how to roll my Rs, among other things. OK, guilty as charged: I was the teachers pet. On Monday mornings, I would often ask her about a word I heard at a sermon that Shabbat. It was an Ashkenazi shul across from where we lived (either Adath Israel or Young Israel I cant remember). One Monday, after telling her that the sermon that week was especially good, I asked her what the rabbi meant when he said multivate. Immediately and without flinching, she replied, Oh no, no David. Its not multivate, its motivate! I will never forget my beloved Mrs. Cleland.
David Suissa, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Tribe Media/Jewish Journal
I can recall when I was in tenth grade at high school in pre-revolutionary Iran and I had a teacher who positively influenced my life: His name was Koorosh (Cyrus in Persian. Iranian Jews respect the memory of Cyrus the Great, so some of their organizations bear his name). And there was also Mr. Mehrdad Mobassery, my chemistry teacher, who now resides in the Los Angeles area. Mr. Mobassery was very young compared to all of my other teachers (he was only 10 years older than me). Since he was young, he brought new ideas and fresh spirit to the class. One of his prominent qualities and skills was his art of communication and how to get the students attention to listen to him. The class was about 50 minutes, but I would not miss a word of what he spoke. It was a mutual collaboration between him and the students; he communicated well and we listened well in return. The most important factor of his teaching was that I could not wait to attend his class because of his empathic and understanding character.
Bijan Khalili, President and founder, Ketab Corp. Publishers
When I met, Rabbi Steve Robbins in 1971 at the Hillel Foundation at the University of Cincinnati campus, the world of Jewish learning finally opened-up. Having sat in Cheder, an ultra-traditional Conservadox religious school in the fifties, I was treated with disdain and disregard. As a female, it wasnt important to really learn, to reinforce my curiosity, to sing or become a Bat Mitzvah. Then I experienced a young man bring Judaism to life for young adults, both male and female, to open-up Torah and inspire us to feel our ancestors pain and joy, to watch the text be mined on multiple levels, most powerfully its mystical secrets, and experience a teachers excitement and energy in sharing text, the content and its inner soul. His teaching transformed my relationship with Jewish learning and became the greatest influence on my own approach as a teacher. Fortunately, he also became my husband and a great mentor in my journey to become a rabbi and cantor. His innovative and pluralistic vision inspired me to see beyond boundaries and tap into my own source of creativity and deep love of Judaism.
Eva Robbins, rabbi, cantor and artist; author, Spiritual Surgery: Journey of Healing Mind, Body, and Spirit
A teacher who shaped my life is Edward Edsall, my tenth grade AP European History teacher at Calabasas High School. Our class started in the fall of 2020, during the pandemic. Despite the fact that we were on Zoom, Mr. Edsalls passion for the subjectand teaching in generalwas evident from day one. He always made class interesting and enjoyable, no matter how difficult the material might have been. Further, he always made himself available to each student, and as we got closer to the AP exam, he went above and beyond by holding morning Zoom sessions for his more than 180 students. He even Zoomed from his car one morning when a family member was taken to the hospital. Mr. Edsall taught me to think deeply and to push myself. He gave me a unique way of analyzing issues and taught me writing methods that I find invaluable. Not only that, but his pearls of wisdom have stuck with me, especially his advice to eat the cheesecake first. Mr. Edsall is one of a kind, and his dedication and enthusiasm will always inspire me to put 120% into everything I do.
Riley Jackson, high school senior in Los Angeles; published author and contributor at the Jewish Journal; founder of Driving with Daisy; Junior Board President at Cancer Support Community Los Angeles and the City of Hope
As I grew up, it was nontraditional teachers who had the greatest impact on my life. When I was 15 years old, I had a painting job with George Ritter, an architect, who taught me more than how to paint with meticulous preparation; he taught me to carefully sand and seal, until the final coat went on like glass, refining my skills with each paint job. From him I learned the discipline of art with an eye for perfection. In high school, I also had a job with Paul Escobar, a janitor, who hired me as his assistant to help him clean the local newspaper and social security offices, where I learned hard work and respect. They believed in me when others did not. They were my first mentors, and they taught me the kind of person I wanted to be. As a father, the greatest joy is seeing mentors like this take an interest in my son. Sam Adler, a classical composer, was my son, Davids, composing teacher at Julliard. He went above and beyond, taking an interest in Davids success. We had never been to Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, or the Lincoln Center before, but it brought tears to my eyes seeing him show up to support David each time.
Bob Hertzberg, California State Senate Majority Leader Emeritus; candidate, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Allen Greenberger, of blessed memory, a history professor, found a way to create a class lecture that was irreverent, welcoming, funny, and educationally challenging. The college I attended did not have a significant number of Jewish students or a Jewish Studies division. Professor Greenberger tried to fill this void. He did as much as he could to bring Jewish Studies and culture through creative classes like the History of Yiddish Theater, or Jews in Sports and Memory and History, a course blending history and psychology of the Holocaust. He taught me the value of our history as a Jewish culture through lectures and through action, and how to find ways to share Jewish culture within a system that didnt prioritize it. He taught me that one can be cynical yet remain hopeful that people and the world could be better. I thank him and all the great teachers for their wisdom, patience and care.
Adeena Bleich, Civic and Jewish Community Solutionist
The teacher I want to acknowledge is Tova Eisenthal. She was my seventh through ninth grade teacher in Israel, some time in the nineties. She taught at an Alliance school in Tel Aviv. She was the first person to install in me the notion that I know how to write. She was a literature, Hebrew and writing teacher. Everyone in the class would have to write an essay; we would have a test and she would walk into class and say, The topic that you have to write about is XYZ; Noa, you can write about whatever you want. So she just gave me free hand to do whatever I wanted and instilled in me the notion that I can express myself in writing, which obviously came in very handy, and still comes in very handy. Im extremely grateful to her forever.
Noa Tishby, actor, writer, producer and activist; author, Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth
In 1979, I was a freshman at Rambam (the pre-YULA/Shalhevet Modern Orthodox HS in LA). I was placed in the Beit Midrash track for Talmud, and was introduced to serious Talmud study by Rabbi Chaim Shulman, a Talmudist who also had a Ph.D. in Math and Physics. I never had such a brilliant teacher who was also such a kind person. He saw that I loved learning Talmud, so he invited me to study with him on Shabbat afternoons in the Kollel in the Beverly-Fairfax area. Every week he exposed me to new books and the creative world of Talmudic commentaries, and when I open those books today, I can still remember detailed conversations from those Shabbat afternoons. One week I asked to excuse myself early, as I had a Rambam basketball game that Saturday night. I explained that I wanted to be home to change right after Shabbat and then hustle to the game. He understood, but I was concerned that I disappointed him. Then during the game, while standing at the free throw line, I saw Rabbi Shulman standing in the crowd. His presence surprised me and inspired me to play harder. As the final buzzer sounded, he approached me and said Yashar Koach, the traditional phrase he used when praising a Talmudic insight. Rabbi Shulman taught me lots of Talmud, but that night, he taught me what it means to be a rabbi and teacher.
Rabbi Daniel Bouskila, Sephardic Educational Center, Westwood Village Synagogue
The rest is here:
- Honoring EFRAT: An organization that provides support to parents - The Jerusalem Post - February 18th, 2024 [February 18th, 2024]
- For the Yehudim There Was Light - COLlive - February 18th, 2024 [February 18th, 2024]
- Book Review: Subculture Vulture, by Moshe Kasher - The New York Times - January 29th, 2024 [January 29th, 2024]
- Palestine, the Jews, the Talmud and the Aleppo Codex | Jaime Kardontchik | The Blogs - The Times of Israel - January 29th, 2024 [January 29th, 2024]
- Israel-Hamas War: Yearning for children lost before their time - The Jerusalem Post - January 29th, 2024 [January 29th, 2024]
- Roots, Midrash and Tu B'Shvat | Gershon Hepner | The Blogs - The Times of Israel - January 29th, 2024 [January 29th, 2024]
- Emotional moments as awards are given out to the talmidim of Talmud Torah Kollel Shomrei Hachomos Rockland Daily - Rockland Daily - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- The People's Talmud Presents: RANDOM Brain Teasers - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- Why the Jewish Word for Heretic Is Based on Epicurus - Greek Reporter - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- War, Talmud, and agriculture - opinion - The Jerusalem Post - December 28th, 2023 [December 28th, 2023]
- Claims on 'Canaan' by Africans and Arabs in the Talmud - The Times of Israel - December 28th, 2023 [December 28th, 2023]
- Berakhot (tractate) - Wikipedia - January 4th, 2023 [January 4th, 2023]
- Talmud and Midrash | Definition, Books, Examples, & Facts - January 4th, 2023 [January 4th, 2023]
- The William Davidson Talmud The William Davidson Talmud - December 26th, 2022 [December 26th, 2022]
- Switching My Kids to This Jewish Day School from Public School Was a Godsend and Came Just in Time - Kveller.com - December 23rd, 2022 [December 23rd, 2022]
- Humans of Heller High: What nine teens learned on an immersive program in Israel - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency - December 16th, 2022 [December 16th, 2022]
- Jesus in the Talmud - Wikipedia - November 23rd, 2022 [November 23rd, 2022]
- The Oral Law -Talmud & Mishna - Jewish Virtual Library - October 23rd, 2022 [October 23rd, 2022]
- Creating Humanity and Midrash in the Divine Image - Jewish Exponent - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Help Jewish Federation do good that goes everywhere - Jewish Community Voice - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- On the Turkish-Syrian border, a citys last Jews watch the ending of an epoch - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Cate Blanchett gives what might be her best performance ever in TR - Cult MTL - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Revisiting The Campus Archives - New Voices - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Opinion | Wood column: Reliever Larry Sherry went from obscurity to fame in a moment - The Daily Advance - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- The Moon Provides an All-Star Example of Sincere Repentance - Torah.org - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Was the fruit of the Tree of Life from which Adam and Eve ate really an apple? J-Wire - J-Wire Jewish Australian News Service - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Major raids into Al-Aqsa and the Occupation prevents worshipers from entering - Middle East Monitor - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- Funny Girl Star Tovah Feldshuh on Sharing the Stage With Lea Michele and What the Talmud Says About Gossip - Variety - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- No-bake 'millionaire' bars are a rich treat for a sweet Simchat Torah J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- Jewish donations to support abortion rights groups are booming J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- Superminis Remix Of The Phantom Of The Operas Title Song is Out Now - Yahoo Entertainment - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- Joey Weisenberg coming to S.F. to help build 'singing communities' J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- Islamic Tahrif Began With The Samaritans OpEd - Eurasia Review - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Rosh Hashanah threats show that Jewish students are being targeted - JNS.org - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Freedom to cycle The female Afghan refugees rediscovering life on the bike in Italy - CyclingWeekly - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Rabbi: Lets recommit to one another and get the polio vaccine | Opinion - NJ.com - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- How and when did the first synagogues appear in Ukraine, and why is this an important aspect of Ukrainian history (Pt. 1) - UJE - Ukrainian Jewish... - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- The Facts about Pope John Paul I Novus Ordo Watch - October 11th, 2022 [October 11th, 2022]
- My ApologiesKanye West Isn't What I Told You - The Epoch Times - October 11th, 2022 [October 11th, 2022]
- A new cookbook highlights women of the Talmud - Press Herald - October 8th, 2022 [October 8th, 2022]
- The greatest contemporary teacher of Judaism is a van driver in Israel - Religion News Service - October 8th, 2022 [October 8th, 2022]
- Letter to the Editor: Rabbis do take political stands when morality, ethics and national threats are involved - Summit Daily - October 8th, 2022 [October 8th, 2022]
- Taking inspiration from the Talmud to feed the needy - Australian Jewish News - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Kenden Alfond Finds Culinary Inspiration from the Talmud - aish.com - Aish.com - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Missouri bagel shop goes viral for effort to feed the needy J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- What Do Some of YU's Torah Leaders Think of the Five Torot? - The Commentator - The Commentator - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Gorbachev was different he had a heart - The Jewish Standard - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Love is a Skeleton Key - aish.com - Aish.com - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- 50 Best Wine Quotes That Will Have You Breaking Out a Bottle Stat! - Parade Magazine - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- We have faced Amaleks like Putin forever, but with morality we can prevail J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Being On The Team - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- Twelve more Slovaks awarded Righteous Among the Nations - The Slovak Spectator - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- West Temples Rabbi Lader to retire in June 2023 - Cleveland Jewish News - September 11th, 2022 [September 11th, 2022]
- A Texas rabbi is fighting Jewish stereotypes on Chinas TikTok - The Times of Israel - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- I'm a Gamblin' Man: The 17th Century Rabbi who Battled Addiction - aish.com - Aish.com - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Q & A: The Mantle Of Leadership (Part II) - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Anger, Procrastination, and Elul - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- What Is the Talmud? - Christianity.com - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- The Choice: A Novel of Love, Faith, and the Talmud - reviewed by Rabbi Jeffrey Cohen J-Wire - J-Wire Jewish Australian News Service - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- What If It Were 'Zalman'? - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- Jewish law symposium to tackle the ethics of cancel culture and redemption - The Jewish Standard - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- What I'm Reading (Aug. 25) | American Council on Science and Health - American Council on Science and Health - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- Here Comes the Judge - Jewish Exponent - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- Asking the Clergy: Your faith and recreational marijuana - Newsday - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- When Judaism considers the future, it looks to the past - Jewish Community Voice - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- The Judaism And Zionism Of David Sarnoff - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- Blessings From Studying The Zera Shimshon - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- You Say it but Do You Believe it? - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- Facing a personal reckoning, with a dose of absurdity, on a bus tour of Naziland - Forward - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- Ezra Furman and the Tireless, Sacred Work of Being Alive | Interview - The Line of Best Fit - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- The Long and Short of a Well-Rounded Shabbos - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- At many Bay Area synagogues, the real action is social action J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - August 25th, 2022 [August 25th, 2022]
- Abortion is a religious issue, but not in the way you think - Santa Fe New Mexican - August 6th, 2022 [August 6th, 2022]
- Jews and Muslims are fasting next week. Let's hold the interfaith activities another time. - Cleveland Jewish News - August 6th, 2022 [August 6th, 2022]
- A Pennsylvania candidate for governor cuts ties with Gab, and antisemitism on the site spikes - Forward - August 6th, 2022 [August 6th, 2022]
- Reading the Book of Psalms in the Twenty-First Century - Jewish Journal - August 6th, 2022 [August 6th, 2022]
- Rabbi's Caroline's invocation kicking off the Mayoral debate - Islander News.com - August 6th, 2022 [August 6th, 2022]
- Jewish Perspectives On Termination Of Pregnancy - Los Alamos Daily Post - August 6th, 2022 [August 6th, 2022]
- Tuesdays primaries offered a glint of hope for Democrats this fall - The Guardian - August 6th, 2022 [August 6th, 2022]
- Why Are There So Many Jewish Lawyers? - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - August 6th, 2022 [August 6th, 2022]