In Other News...

My phone rang one spring afternoon during the first year I served as the rabbi in Dothan, AL. You will have to imagine the Southern accent that greeted me when I answered.

“Rabbah, this is Leon. I’m going to Montgomery to get some Passover food Barbra and I need. I thought I would pick up the supplies for the seder for the congregation. Do you want to come with me?”

That...Read more...

At Torah study this morning, we were focusing on the themes of living with our eyes wide open so that we can live fully. It was a meaningful conversation filled with sharing and laughter. Little did we know that another shooting was taking place, this time at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA.  

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Doug Sparks, our congregant, shares his reflections on sitting shmira — accompanying a deceased person from the moment of death until burial — one of the most honourable traditions in Judaism. If his experience inspires you to learn more or to assist the Boulder Chevra Kadisha, please contact Doug at...Read more...

I am a Jew by choice. I am a member of HHS by choice. I am the president of this congregation by choice. These choices are part of my Jewish journey, a journey guided and nurtured by HHS and its values. In the coming weeks, you’ll be hearing more about the vision statement adopted by HHS’s Board. Tonight I’ll tell you how my family has lived the values embodied by this vision. 

With my former wife Elaine and our two...Read more...

There is a dramatic moment in our liturgy that I wait for all year long. It is the final service in the late afternoon on Yom Kippur called Neilah. Neilah means “locking.” The idea is that the Gates of Repentance are closing and these are the last few moments available to us to do the important work of teshuvah – turning/returning/repentance. The intensity is so strong that it actually makes me feel like my very life depends on...Read more...

Our Days of Awe are constructed to challenge us. It is that simple. To get out of our own ways and find a renewed sense of purpose in our lives and a renewed relationship with God.

Recently, I have had a lot of conversations with different congregants about their feelings about God. They have shared questions, challenges, objections, and arguments. Nevertheless, among them I have seen a real, heartfelt desire to connect with God. They...Read more...

Nonprofit CEO: 'We want this to be a model for property owners'

Misti Doyle doesn't remember the last time she had proper housing. She used to live with family, until one night, when they decided to get high. Doyle didn't feel like joining in, so they handed her $20 and sent her out into a snowstorm. She was homeless in Longmont for awhile, and spent the past year living at Bridge House, participating in its Ready to Work...Read more...

The book of Deuteronomy gives us 3 sermons by Moses to the people of Israel, restating God’s commands originally given to the Israelites some forty years earlier in Exodus and Leviticus. This week’s Torah portion, Parshat Re'eh, is from the 2nd of those sermons and begins with the classic statement, "See, this day I set before you a blessing and a curse" - a blessing if the people obey God's commandments and a...Read more...

Last night, I heard the sound file on the news where a young child was crying out, "Papa! Papa!" It was heartbreaking. I knew I needed to write to you.

President Trump's tweet that immigrants will "infest our Country" echoes the antisemitsm of Shoah where Nazis described Jews as rats carrying contagion. I also hear the echo of Pharaoh in the first chapter of Exodus, when the newly emerged Pharaoh who didn't know Joseph was...Read more...

There are some drawbacks to getting older. Getting up in the morning and having to really think about moving because we are so stiff, or the sudden realization that we have lived more life than we have yet to live. But there are perks, like senior discounts.  Getting a Senior cup of coffee at McDonalds seems like such a savings when we get change back from our dollar.  One of the least well known senior...Read more...

On any kibbutz in Israel, there are a wide variety of crops and animals, like on many farms. In recent decades, they have even grown beyond agriculture and have created industries and products that support their communities.

At OSRUI, our little kibbutz has a lovely gan (garden), a refet (which is a “dairy,” but at OSRUI, it is our collection of sheep, goats, hens and a very loud rooster)....Read more...

Beginning in August, Bridge House and Congregation Har HaShem will partner to provide housing to six successful graduates of Bridge House's award-winning Ready to Work program. Bridge House will rent two houses owned by Har HaShem and managed by Boulder Property Management. The rooms will be sublet to graduates of Ready to Work with full-time, mainstream jobs who will also receive aftercare case management. Bridge House will provide a subsidy...Read more...

Dreaming of possibilities, testing hypotheses, picking ourselves up through adversity, pushing ourselves to grow, making connections, learning Torah, having fun.  

These are experiences we want our young people to acquire.  And what a great environment camp is to learn them! The chanichim (campers) are together with each other 24 hours a day.  They look to their madrichim (counselors) to learn those...Read more...

I write to share some recent reflections relating to a question that I received in every single encounter during my interview process: Will you officiate at a wedding between a Jew and a non-Jew?

At the time, I described feeling like I was standing at a crossroad. In my previous 16 years as a rabbi, I had committed to never reject or condemn couples who chose to intermarry, but I felt unable to officiate where one...Read more...