Words is an archive of the various creative projects that I am working on that are meant to be spoken – plays, stories, poems, speeches, and the occasional joke.
I will be reading my latest short story, The Terrorist’s Terrible Toothache, on Saturday, May 18th at B’nai Keshet 99 South Fullerton, Montclair NJ @ 8PM. The reading will be part of a literary salon that will include playwrights, songwriters, a dancer, poets, and apparently my beloved. Anyways – If you are interested in The Terrorist’s Terrible Toothache then come on down to Montclair!
Here is an excerpt from a recent speech that I gave “installing” a rabbi: When I was young, my favorite book that my parents read to me was Leo Leonni’s Frederick. Lionni was born in Amsterdam, the son of an Italian Jew, and he came to Philadelphia in 1939. He wrote Frederick in 1967. Here is the story: there is a group of field mice and they are all gathering grains and other foodstuffs for the coming winter months. All…
Jews on Christmas There isn’t enough soy sauce in the world to feed Jews on Christmas Huddled around steaming plates of dumplings Discussing cinematography Angioplasty Lactaid Who has lived and who has died Shocked to hear that the hot new Hollywood star is actually half-Jewish (and not arguing which half) I don’t see what all the fuss is about Nathan Englander. Yes, it’s like The Wire, but different, Costco is a mixed blessing, Do you trust Yelp? On our smartphones…
The Cry “Heed the cry of the shofar!” the crowd reads in unison, the hum of the air conditioning system, the monotone reserved for special occasions, the hundreds of pairs of eyeglasses perched on the end of noses, the heavy prayer-books held at a slight angle. And when we turn the page, not so much in unison, and the cantor lifts the long, curly, brightly polished ram’s horn bought on a last trip to Jerusalem, We wait for it. A-roooooooooooo….
Posting my February 23rd address to the faculty and staff of Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City. To listen click here. Gender Trouble: What We Are Teaching Boys About Being Men and Why It Matters Rabbi Daniel S. Brenner Address to Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion February 23, 2012 First of all, I want to thank Rabbi Shirley Idelson for extending the invitation to be with you today and to thank…
Below is an audio only version of the talk I gave in Charlotte: Going Retro? The Next Generation’s Search for Jewish Authenticity
I was asked by the good folks in Charlotte, North Carolina’s Chavurat Tikvah to share a few words on the Rosh Hashannah Day 1 Haftarah. While I didn’t have time to write out a drash, I did put some thoughts together and had a half way decent insight on the topic. So here’s how I started — Chana’s prayer is a beautiful counter-culture moment in the RH liturgy. Here we are with all this gratitude and all hail God is…
It is Tisha B’av and I write from the city that sits alone. Jerusalem, last night your streets were filled with pilgrim mourners and police forces, pillow-carrying grandfathers and acne-riddled flag waving teenagers, one guy I saw driving through the Jewish quarter on a Kawasaki. Yid on a Mamluk bike traversing ancient Roman sidewalks. Rak po. So what is my prayer? I would like one day to see the security fence torn down and the concrete and metal from the…
The Jewish Week is expanding their roster of rabbinic commentators and Reb Blog got called up to the plate this week. (thanks Jonathan) Here’s my drash on this week’s Torah portion: Shabbat Shemot Revolution By The Nile: Defiance In The Global ‘Egypt’ Fifteen years ago, I was a passenger on a rusty bus headed out of Egypt. Like many of the young Jewish college kids who had found their way to Cairo on a tourist visa, my weeks in Egypt…
A few years ago, I was fortunate to work closely with a Conservative Rabbi, Benay Lappe, who spent her years at JTS in the closet. I learned about the enormous pain that she went through as she had to hide her identity. She chose JTS beacuse she wanted to learn talmud, to be in an environment that cared about Jewish law, and to be part of a movement that valued tradition. I am sure that there are others like Lappe,…