Sefirat Ha’omer and Transformations
The mitzvah of Sefirat Haomer, is the counting of days and weeks from Pesah to Shavuot. More precisely though, the count is not from Pesah but from the Omer offering, […]
Tag Archives: Shearith Israel
Polonies Talmud Torah School – New York
The position of Educational Director at Shearith Israel (Manhattan, New York) includes a variety of responsibilities. The aspect that I was most intrigued about when interviewing was that of Hebrew School principal. Prior to […]
Chatham Square Cemetery – New York
The most deeply meaningful service that I’ve conducted as a rabbi at Shearith Israel is the annual memorial service at the congregation’s colonial-era cemetery. I had the pleasure of conducting […]
Hebrew School Curricula
I first realized how much can be accomplished at Hebrew School when I became principal of Shearith Israel’s ‘Polonies Talmud Torah School‘ five years ago. I saw that it is possible to […]
Santa Fe, New Mexico
How I came to teach a class at Congregation Kol Beramah in Santa Fe, New Mexico is a story which kind of spans 400 years, but more personally, the past […]
Hebrew School Education
I love being a Hebrew school principal. In 2009, I became the principal of the Hebrew School of Congregation Shearith Israel, the Polonies Talmud Torah School (I’ll write more about […]
Belmonte, Trancoso and Guarda
I had no idea what to expect when I planned to spend Shabbat in the almost mythical Converso community of Belmonte, but what I experienced I won’t ever forget. There, […]
Mekor Haim Synagogue, Porto
In my mind, Portugal has been one of those place that Jews left, and not where Jews go. But here I am arriving. My three hour plus layover in Lisbon, […]
Returning to Portugal
On Wednesday, November 27, 2013, I return to Portugal. Well, return might not be the right right word, as I’ve never been there before, and as far as I know, […]
Gomez Mill House
Before even starting my first day at Shearith Israel, I set out to connect with its past, in August of 2009. And that I did with an excursion up the […]
Shalom Says Hello 