rabbinic

Why I Love (Even Secular) New Year’s Celebrations

It is easy to be dismissive of any grand significance to New Year’s. Sure, it is fun–an excuse to gather ...

Still Marching in Selma

There’s a slight curve to the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. The curve means that you can’t see what’s ...

Why This Rabbi Started the Year in a Small Texas Town

In the summer of 2013, I left a wonderful congregation in North Carolina to pursue an exciting opportunity on the ...

Rabbi Thrown Out Of Jackson Restaurant: The Real Story

“Did you hear about the rabbi getting thrown out of a Jackson restaurant?”Everyone at our office has been asked that ...

“Is That A Cross On Your License Plate, Rabbi?”

“Um, Rabbi? Don’t you feel a little bit weird with a cross on the back of your car?”I fielded this ...

What Can Southern Jews Teach The Rest of Us About Intermarriage and Outreach?

Usually we think of small, southern communities as being at least a beat behind their larger counterparts, especially when they ...

Southern Seders on the Passover Pilgrimage

Right now, Rabbi Matt Dreffin and Rabbi Marshal Klaven are in the midst of the Passover Pilgrimage, journeying to communities ...

We’re Still Figuring Out What A Rabbi Looks Like

After you read this paragraph, close your eyes for a minute and picture a rabbi.Where is this rabbi?What is the ...

Two Mississippi Rabbis Will Shave for the Brave

My Mississippi rabbinical colleague Rabbi Debra Kassoff and myself will both be making a bold statement this spring; more accurately, ...

A Whipping Man Seder

The Whipping Man , by playwright Matthew Lopez, depicts an amazing historical convergence: the Civil War’s end, this nation’s long ...