Rabbi Daniel Brenner

Respecting the Sacred Delivered at the Iftar of the Interfaith Dialog CenterHilton Hotel – Hasbrouck Heights, New JerseyOctober 10, 2006Rabbi Daniel S. Brenner E akshem la. First off, I’d like to extend my gratitude to Dr. Levent Koc, and to all the supporters of the Interfaith Dialog Center. It was my great pleasure to join the Iftar of the Turkish Cultural Center last week in Manhattan at the Waldorf –Astoria and to hear dignitaries such as Senator Hilary Clinton as…

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Jewish Perspectives on Immigration Rabbi Daniel S. BrennerDelivered February 1, 2006New York Immigration Coalition Inter-religious RallyBattery Park, New York City Before I say a few brief words regarding Jewish teachings on immigration, I want to say that today I am standing on what is for me and my family sacred ground. It was on this spot that 100 years ago, my late grandfather, Herschel Brenner, then a six year old boy from Częstochowa, Poland began his new life. I often…

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New York Immigration Coalition February 1, 2006 Battery Park, NYC Invocation Blessed Holy One, we know you by many names and we call you by many names in many languages, but at this hour of moral concern we call out to you with one voice. Protect us as we protect America’s values. Shield us as we shield our nation from a culture of fear and suspicion. Guard us as we guard the rights of women, men and children to live…

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Delivered by Rabbi Daniel S. Brenner at Union Theological Seminary, Noon Chapel, October 20th, 2005. The Zohar, the foremost book of Jewish mysticism, explains that the Sukkah generates such an intense concentration of spiritual energy, that the divine presence manifests itself in this fragile earthbound tent. During Sukkot we are told that the souls of the seven ancestral shepherds of Israel leave Gan Eden to partake in the divine light of the earthly festival (Zohar – Emor 103a). These transcendent…

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Spiritual Activism: From Moses to Bob Marley’s Redemption Song Rabbi Daniel Brenner I begin with a story: The Parable of the Two Scrolls: A traveler walks down a path holding a scroll of paper in each hand. Every few minutes, the traveler stops along the way and unrolls one of the scrolls. “The whole world was created for me.” reads the first scroll. After reading this message, the traveler walks with pride, taking long strides on the journey, enjoying each…

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Remarks I made at the Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust At the Holocaust Educators Conference, Summer, 2003: Earlier today, we heard from both David Weiss Halivni and Neil Gilman, both of whom expressed their concern that the holocaust is fading into irrelevance. They both lamented the fact that the holocaust is becoming a chapter in history devoid of the emotions of rage and horror that it once held. Perhaps the presentation by Annette Insdorf who…

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Revelation and its Discontents By Daniel S. Brenner A sign I saw while taking a shabbes walk read: Hear God’s Word. Be God’s Voice. God is still speaking. -First Church of Christ The sign made me think of the Sunday mornings of my youth. Growing up as I did, a Jew boy in North Carolina, a gefilte fish out of water, Sunday morning was about as exciting as watching paint dry. All my neighborhood friends were at church, and that…

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