Archive

This was written early Wednesday morning after the presidential election This morning’s news is tough on half our country. There is fear. There is devastation. There is grief. We have a lot of work to do. I learned through this year of grief and fear (after October 7,...

It takes a team to battle breast cancer.  All of you are part of that team. In fact it takes many teams — medical teams, research teams, social support teams, teams of family, philanthropic teams, and all all of you as soccer teams. Seventeen soccer teams...

Tonight, the final new moon of the Jewish year will appear in the sky marking the new Hebrew month of Elul and the Jewish community will begin counting down the days to the Jewish New Year. Each morning of this month, we hear the blast of a ram’s horn...

This talk was written for an interfaith prayer service for peace and solidarity in the world at Aldersgate in Charlotte on May 23, 2024. Psalm 133 states in Hebrew, “Hinei mah tov umah naim shevet achim gam yachad.  How good it is to gather together as siblings.”...

“We must reject the way of eternal war. The hostages must be returned to their loved ones. Humanitarian aid must reach the people of Gaza immediately. Israeli and Palestinian leadership must commit to a long term negotiated peace. There is another way, and...

This was delivered as the Yizkor (Memorial) Sermon for the Seventh Day of Passover at Temple Beth El in Charlotte, North Carolina. The path to freedom is not linear. Keep going… The path through grief is not linear. Keep going… It may be muddy. It may be...

Tonight, Jews across the globe will begin their observance of Passover with seders – festival meals accompanied by a retelling of the Exodus narrative through stories, symbolic foods, and songs. It is one of the most widely observed Jewish practices. While the holiday...

I was blessed to spend the fourth night of Chanukah with Governor Cooper and 16 clergy from the North Carolina Jewish Clergy Association at the Governor’s Mansion. Here are the words I shared: Chanukah celebrates the kindling of light on the darkest days of the...

Jews across the globe were bereft over the sudden death last week of Rabbi David Ellenson, former President of the Hebrew Union College- Jewish Institute of Religious, the Reform movement’s seminary. The Central Conference of American Rabbis shared in their...

This year has seen turmoil in the United States and in Israel. During this Festival of Lights we need to bring light into the world, now more than ever. Cantor Andy Bernard and I (respectively Cantor Emeritus and Rabbi Emerita of Temple Beth El) have written this...

Written upon returning from a journey of listening in Israel in mid-November 2023 There is a shattered feeling that is pervasive in Israel and Gaza. The shards of Israel’s southern communities have left people devastated and scattered across the country. Peace...

You turn my mourning into dancing… so that my heart might sing to you and not be silent. (Psalm 30: 12-13) Our global cups are overflowing with grief – Israeli grief, Palestinian grief, Jewish grief, Muslim grief, Christian grief – the latter, at...

This was shared at the 85th Commemoration of Kristallnacht at Queens University of Charlotte. Kristallnacht – some call it the night of broken glass but it wasn’t just a night.  It was experienced as an eternal night — on which systematic-state...

Od lo avdah tikvateinu – Our hope is not lost. The first thirty days of grief has passed yet tragically still we grieve and still we weep. The cloud of sorrow is palpable. And still the end of shloshim bids us to return to the tasks of life, to the tasks of our...

Three weeks ago this Shabbat, our Jewish world was turned upside down in a way that it will never, in our lifetime, be the same.  In the midst of this dark and most devastating time, there have been so many sources of light, healing and hope. Rabbi Andrea London...

This talk was delivered at the Hadassah Celebrate the Tatas Event. It is so good to be together. We all need community. We all need Jewish community – now more than ever. Thank you for being here. Thank you for inviting me. When I’ve mentioned to others that I’d be...

Faculty from multiple faiths are invited to share reflections prior to our faculty meetings. As fate would have it, I was asked to share a reflection prior to yesterday’s faculty meeting. While my reflections are usually lighter and universal, my heart was...

This benediction was written for the ribbon cutting at the New Charlotte U.S. Courthouse Annex and Charles R. Jonas Federal Building Renovation on May 19, 2023. It is an honor to be here and offer prayers and blessings for this courthouse. A vision for justice is...

After experiencing hundreds of years of slavery in Egypt, the moment of redemption is finally upon us. Miraculously, we, as Israelites, cross through parted seas and stand on solid ground of freedom. Our first act of freedom is to sing. Moses and the Israelites sing....

This interview was aired on Charlotte Talks with Mike Collins on November 10, 2022 (the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the night of Broken Glass more appropriately known as the November Pogrom). Link to Charlotte Talks Podcast Link to Charlotte Talks Facebook Live...

This editorial was published in the Charlotte Observer on October 19, 2022 The drumbeat of hate in our society is becoming louder and more prevalent. It is coming at us in surround sound and emitting from multiple instruments. This past weekend former President Trump...

Dr. Dick Blackwell, trained in both psychotherapy and ministry, and I reflected on Ecclesiastes and making marriage work. My words are in black font and Dr. Blackwell’s insights are in purple. Ecclesiastes tells us there is a time for everything – for...

Hate… Plans shattered. Dreams shattered. Lives shattered. Kristallnacht: Germany’s shattering. November 9th and 10th. The virus of antisemitism. Awakened, virulent, violent. Tree of Life Synagogue: Pittsburgh’s shattering. America’s shattering. October 27th. An...

Election Season Event: April 2022 Candidates of Color Forum with Aisha Dew & Rev. Vahisha Hasan and Queens Students Thursday, April 21, 2022 Time: 7:00 pm Location: Ketner Auditorium at Queens University of Charlotte Who will be running our city and county?...

We celebrate sacred intersections of time. Our own Kiddush cups filled celebrating promises of redemption – past, present, and future simultaneously awakening ancient memory and creating memory connecting age-old journeys to today “Egypts” of oppression still exist...

I once gave a Yom Kippur sermon at Temple Beth El, noting that there are some ultra-Orthodox communities where rabbi cards are traded like baseball counterparts, and that if I had such cards, I’d want those of my two favorite Rabbis – Reb Nachman of Breslov and my...

This was delivered as part of the 25th annual Comparative Religion Series at Temple Beth El. Robert Seltzer opens his tome on Jewish People Jewish Thought: The Jewish Experience in History with the following statement: “Thirty two centuries ago, the Jewish people...

[Reflection from the Conversation on Healing from Trauma: Colleyville, COVID, and Rising Hate on January 24, 2022 and in gratitude to Dr. Hadia Mubarak] We are sisters, scared because of hate aimed at our difference, feeling safety in our solidarity, and support as we...

This editorial was published in the Charlotte Observer on January 18, 2022. It was co-authored by Rabbi Judy Schindler and Rabbi Asher Knight. As Jews, we have had a long history of experiencing our religious “otherness” as a source of fear. Yesterday’s daylong horror...

We stand at the start of the new year of 2022. Milestones in time are ideal moments for reflection and for setting intentions that lead to change. The past two years have challenged every one of us and our world. With each passing wave of the pandemic, the tensions in...

As we wake to the dawn of a New Year, we pray for… Hearts of compassion to recognize the struggles of others. Minds of wisdom to heal our world – so that we can eradicate the pandemic in the long-term, and in the short-term, learn to live with it and not die...

The Jewish holiday of Passover begins on the evening of Saturday, March 27th.  The narrative of the Exodus has inspired countless communities in the past and today to fight for freedom.  Our Seder supplement is designed to enable you to bring contemporary...