Rabbi's Corner

My March of the Living posts and photos can be found at my blog, indexed at http://joshuahammerman.blogspot.com/search/label/march%20of%20the%20living.  Read More →

This week, I’ll be joining the March of the Living, an annual pilgrimage from Poland to Israel. The experience of the Holocaust stands alone in Jewish history, a godless counterpoint to all things sacred. Alongside the majestic peaks of Sinai and Zion, our view now includes this man-made mountain of children’s shoes, empty luggage and echoing shrieks,... [Read more of this post]

From the Alban Insititute, “Visions of a Sacred Community” summarizes the new book of Isa Aron , Steven M. Cohen , Lawrence A. Hoffman , Ari Y. Kelman describing the key components of a “visionary” congregation, as opposed to one that they call “functional,” which they (rightly) claim cannot survive in this environment.... [Read more of this post]

 Some of you might recall this question, which came up earlier this year. Now it appears in my “Hammerman on Ethics” column. Feel free to send along your own ethical dilemmas!   No Handshake: Don’t Take it Personally   Q: Hey Rabbi– I have a quick question. I met the Rabbi at the Chabad at our school. Anyways, I had a long... [Read more of this post]

    Here’s the first problem. When we rush to judgment, we are almost always wrong. Here’s the second problem. In this age of instant communication and ubiquitous punditry, everyone rushes to judgment. The third problem: just about everyone who rushed to judgment about the flotilla incident was wrong. Which leads to the... [Read more of this post]

  Just last Shabbat, as the winds were howling outside the sanctuary, we discussed what Shabbat could mean for people today. We looked at new and perhaps unorthodox ways people are bringing a form of Sabbath into their lives and how necessary it is. It’s both timeless and timely, as culture critic Judith Shulevitz has just come out with a book... [Read more of this post]

The storm of this past weekend has turned Stamford into a virtual war zone. The storm killed 2 locally and cut power to 80000. Estimates are that about 30% of the homes in the area are without power. Schools have been cancelled for the day and the mayor robo-called everyone yesterday to tell us to stay off the streets. I was out at the time, cruising... [Read more of this post]

Some say I’m the Top Banana at Temple Beth El. Others claim that we are a Banana Republic. Well, this past Saturday night, for Purim I was literally a Banana (that’s Rabanana to you!). I explained that we are going Green, and I was green just a few days ago. It was a great Purim. Here I am above, with some seventh graders and Mara, all... [Read more of this post]

My Father’s Chupah,by Joshua Hammerman  Special To The Jewish Week The questioner was an African-American high school student — not Jewish — playing the role of Tevye’s daughter Chava in an astonishingly multicultural production of “Fiddler on the Roof,” one that brought together more than 100 students of all ages from 24 private and public... [Read more of this post]