Rabbi Mark Asher Goodman
@RabbiMarkAsherG
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Wu Tang is for the children. Hassidut is for the people. Book is something you’d really enjoy.
Pittsburgh, PA
Joined June 2011
This account is no longer active for many reasons. You can find me on other socials.
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In Judaism, if you say a prayer over something, then fail to do the requisite action that follows, like blessing bread and not eating it, it’s a bracha levatla - which is a sinful act. If you pray for victims of gun violence but do nothing, it is a sinful act.
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The NYT says white evangelicals aren’t getting vaccinated because they think only God can save them. and I’m like wait aren’t all clergy contractually obligated to tell the ‘I sent you a jeep, a raft and a helicopter’ joke every 3 years?.
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There was a historical reason why Jews were welcome in moviemaking at its outset in the 1910s and 1920s. It was considered unseemly and low culture by WASP society. We did that work because it was low class and nobody else would touch it. That’s hustle, baby. Don’t hate.
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The Jewish tradition has recognized the existence of more than two genders for 2,000 years. You bet your tuchus I'll be defending the rights of the transgender community against extreme government intrusion into lives of over 1.4 million Americans.
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Quick thread on the various spellings of the Jewish holiday that falls this month and what the spellings indicate about your own proclivities:. Spelling #1: Channuka- You've got the first syllable grammatically correct, but not the last. You love chaos. Your apartment is a mess.
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My 93-year-old bubbie, a Holocaust survivor, got her Covid shot today. Blessings all around.
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Guns are killing people. Thousands of people. Every year. Not drag shows. Not AP courses. Not books about racism. Guns.
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The fact that Ye and Fuentes went from dinner with the former president . to a fervently pro-Nazi fireside chat with Alex Jones. is a real canary-in-the-coal-mine moment for America.
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This week’s Torah portion. Loan forgiveness is a mitzvah - a commandment. An obligation. Because enslaving people to decades worth of loans with interest has been considered immoral and unjust. for more than 3000 years.
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I’m a rabbi, and I’m pro-choice. Because Judaism is pro-choice. We must write Roe v Wade into law.
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I feel sick to my stomach. My soul is crushed. This keeps happening and it’s not ok. We are not ok.
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It’s weird that we’re having a public battle about drag shows. precisely at Purim. Like, we Jews literally put on crazy wigs and dresses at this time of year. as part of a religious celebration.
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All of my grandmothers family (except her and her sister) were lined up and shot to death in a forest in Poland in 1943. But please, tell me more about how hard it is to be required to get poked with a needle before you are allowed to attend an indoor yoga class.
“Today we face, I believe, a bigger threat than the Jews did in the late 1930s in Eastern Europe,” Leigh Dundas told an anti-vaxx protest crowd at the entrance of the Golden Gate Bridge.
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The next time someone tells you the second amendment 'right to bear arms' is absolute and untouchable. remember that the first amendment includes 'the right of the people peaceably to assemble'. and yet in order to save thousands of lives, we had to suspend that right.
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Sigh. The twitter discourse today is whether owning and displaying Nazi memorabilia is inappropriate. Uh, it’s inappropriate. Your Hitler mementos go in a museum about how awful the Nazis were. Or they go in a bonfire. Those are the options.
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Forget what the Supreme Court says. You should pray at home over Zoom . and find the right congregation for you to connect with virtually. Gathering in person will kill people. God: not a fan of killing your fellow human.
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Jews were also boxers and jazz musicians and in burlesque and Vaudeville back when that was looked down on. Then we dominated music and comedy and people were like ‘that’s not fair!’. Society forces us to adapt due to antisemitism. We adapt. Don’t hate the player hate the game.
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Here’s my daughter. who is Santa-ineligible due to her being Jewish. so instead, she wrote a letter to Santa to advocate on behalf of her friend Anna.
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Heads up. We’re having a rough one in Pittsburgh today . as jury selection begins in the synagogue shooting trial. Lot of my people on edge. Take a moment to say a prayer for hope and peace, and also . do a random act of kindness in our honor today.
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Spelling #8: Hanukkah- A little of everything; logical, but with flair, and yet still conventional. Modern but not avant-garde, pragmatic and yet still fun. Your apartment is cluttered yet neat. You really like the Gap, but also thrift shops. People tend to get along with you. /E.
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The President just insinuated that Jews might be desecrating our own cemeteries to get attention.
BREAKING: PA Attorney General: Trump told us "sometimes it's the reverse," when asked about anti-Semitic threats and attacks.
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Outrageous. The US government is involved in something so shameful that it will not permit its own senators to witness it.
I just left the tent city at Tornillo. It is a child prison camp. They refused our request to speak with the children who are held there.
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If it's not safe where you are to go to shul for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (and according to authorities, it's not safe most places), stay home. I checked, and God's cool with it.
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Rosh Hashanah prep this year is extra weird.
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Jews that convert are Jews, and they get to have opinions about Judaism. Actors who played 23th century space captains, OTOH, may or may not be reliable sources on physics, space-time, . or what Judaism says about the status of converts.
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When a person decides the opposite of Black Lives Matter is ‘Blue Lives Matter’. when you essentially paint the picture as ‘the Black community is specifically in conflict with the police’. you kind of prove the whole point that policing is broken.
Praying for the UU Church of Concord, vandalized with Blue Lives Matter graffiti the day after a pro-police rally. This church has been a leading voice in racial justice and a forerunner in faithful support to #BlackLivesMatter. God comfort them and strengthen them in their work!
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I was not prepared for the possibility. that the landmark Supreme Court decision defending LGBTQIA rights and drag shows as protected speech would be entitled. “Hamburger Mary’s vs Ron DeSantis”.
NEW LAWSUIT: "Hamburger Mary’s in Orlando, famous for its burgers and drag shows, is suing the state of Florida and DeSantis in federal court, claiming the bill is a violation of their First Amendment rights."
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Oh hey look the leading English paper in Israel is doing an antisemitism.
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No, you can’t use the Christian Bible to prove something about Judaism. Yes, women can have leadership positions. Unbelievable, this guy.
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Spelling #3: Chanukah- You want the Hebrew letters to be precisely & accurately reflected in the translation. You love order. You read Marie Kondo's book and wept, sobbing 'I feel seen.'.
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“Guy cosplaying as a combat soldier . also cosplaying as a Jew (shofar; tzitzit WITH techelet)”. Please don’t play-act my faith tradition like it’s a Halloween costume. And especially not for this purpose.
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He yadayadayada’ed the Book of Kohelet. And the parts he yadayada’ed are the ones about . consequences.and.reckoning.
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I’m sick. Running a fever, aches. Means I can’t fast for Tisha B’av. First time in maybe 20 years I’ve missed a major fast. But always remember: health comes first in Judaism.
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@bi_enby If you have an eating disorder, you have my love and respect. There are bigger things to worry about in context than wasting food or blessing and then not eating. I hope you get healthy and stay healthy.
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Reminder to twitter Hebrews: . today and tomorrow are the best days to buy your strings of Sukkah lights at a 50-80% discount.
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Doesn’t matter what the government says. All the responsible, safe, and intelligent religious leaders will tell you the same thing: stay home. God is there, too. “Where is God? Wherever you let God in.”. -Menachem Mendel of Kotzk.
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The Talmud’s understanding of delayed burial is rooted in kavod - honor. If delaying burial would cause humiliation or bodily deterioration, it is not permitted. If delaying burial is part of an act of honor - then it is not only permitted - it would seem to be encouraged. /1.
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@handswarmer @GJabberbox @RandPaul Wait no further. Here’s an article that points out that:.- the tax benefit is 1.9 trillion over 10 years.- the rich receive the largest cut.- taxes for the top bracket received a cut feom 39% to 37%. So: trillions in cash to the wealthy. Which includes GOP donors. QED.
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I spent the day in jail in Pittsburgh as a part of a @bendthearcpgh protest against our president: his racism, his xenophobia, his incitement, his complacency. #OurSolidarityWill defeat white-nationalism.
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Spelling #2: Hannukkah- Two doubled letters; sort of unnecessary, but has lovely symmetry. You like beautiful, extravagant things. You long for, but likely cannot afford, a Louis the XIV armoir and chest set.
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The viewpoint of most Jews I know - Israeli and American, left and right - can be summed up as. “We don’t want a war. We don’t want to see civilians killed. But Hamas rises up time and again to murder us. What choice do we have?”.
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@SenateCaucus @RavBogard @MissouriGOP A rabbi may use the lessons of the Holocaust to teach that we must not marginalize minority groups. They have been entrusted by the Jewish community w/ that right. The MO Senate GOP, however, are not entitled to use the Holocaust to score political points. That's inappropriate.
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As a rabbi who served a community in Boebert’s 3rd district, I would say:. when the congresswoman stands with Nazis and secessionists. she is not working for the people of Pueblo or.Grand Junction or.Steamboat Springs. She is working against them.
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It usually requires 9 years of higher education to become a Reconstructionist, Reform, Orthodox, or Conservative rabbi. That can add up to roughly $150-400k in student loan debt. But suddenly we’re surprised that theres a shortage of qualified rabbis?.
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Spelling #7: Hanukah- A classic and traditional way to spell it. You like comfy couches and warm blankets. 'Antiques Road Show' is your go-to tv program. You like to bake, knit, do woodwork, and garden. You actually remember to write thank you notes.
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I don’t like to admit it, but Kanye and DJT’s statements this week, plus some of the inevitable antisemitic echos, have me unsettled.
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Amazes me that a rabbi foiled a hostage situation after 10 hours by throwing a chair at the gunman and running w 2 other hostages. The stones on that guy. I could only dream of being half as cool in that situation. Make that guy chief rabbi of badassery for life.
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Passover cleaning update:. Drank a beer Friday. Drank a beer Saturday. Drinking a beer now.
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Today is the 18th of Cheshvan, the yahrtzeit of the 11 members of Tree of Life/New Light/Dor Hadash killed by a gunman in 2018. At a program today, I learned about the mural on the outside of the building, made of art submitted. 50% of it came from children from Parkland, FL.
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This is a public service announcement. 1800 Blanco Tequila is Kosher for Passover. You are not just restricted to wine and slivovitz, baruch hashem.
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RBG’s Hebrew name is Yita Ruchel bat Celia. Usually if you get to synagogue by 10:45 on Shabbat you can make the 7th aliyah in time to slip in the misheberach for cholim (‘healing’) prayer.
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Spelling #6: Channukkah- Literally this is the most letters you could use, indicating that you are a maximalist - go big or stay home. You play music loud. You tell huge, possibly fabricated stories to your friends but they love it. You are on a 1st name basis w/an orthopedist.
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White privilege is living in a free society w great economic and social advantages. knowing that your people were once oppressed and murdered. and watching another social group be oppressed and murdered. and doing nothing for them - instead complaining ‘whatabout me?’
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If you’re wondering how mainstream the protests in Israel are:. my mother in law has gone for three weeks in a row. She’s 75. She voted for centrist former Likudnim Tzipi Livni for PM a few cycles ago. She doesn’t like going out to restaurants because they are too loud.
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Two years since Tree of Life/New Light/Dor Chadash antisemitic terror attack. Commemorate it. by voting out white nationalists . and the politicians that empower them.
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Spelling #4: Hanuka- You are a rebel and an outlaw. You scoff at convention. You were a goth in the grunge era; you went to the first Burning Man and left before it 'turned corporate'; you hate all things conventional. Your personal finances are a mess.
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My kid is playing Civ VI and the game gave him the chance to please the people by having a pogrom and he yells out. “I am NOT having a pogrom!”. So score one for giving your kid an advanced education in Jewish history.
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חדש ימינו כקדם ."renew our days as of old" .from the book of Eichah.just absolutely broke me this year.tears streaming down my face . Sounds too much like ."I just wish things would go back to normal".
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Don’t say ‘attack’. Say ‘shooting’. Don’t say ‘anti-semitic’. Say ‘white supremacist act of terror.’. Understand who and what the perpetrators are; link their actions to the root causes - intolerance, hate, and guns - so that we as a nation can address it and solve it.
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Brb, guys. Space Force called they need me to set up the Jewish Space Laser so that the Rothschilds can inject microchips into pizza parlor basements so that the Illuminati can find the hidden map on the back of Declaration of Independence to the hidden UFO base inside Mt Shasta.
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In fourteen hundred and ninety two . Spain concluded one hundred years of oppression and torture by expelling their entire Jewish population, destroying a vibrant five century-old society and culture.
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Anti-semitism Cow is back and has already destroyed like 12 twitter nazis. Lord be praised. Welcome back, @AntisemitismCow .
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I'm drawing to the close of rewatching the West Wing all the way through. I'm going to start over again with the pilot when I finish. There should be a name for the day on which you go all the way back to restart WW. "Simchas Bartlet" perhaps. cc: @rabbilaufer @JoshMalina.
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The letter I'm trying to write to my congregation about what's happening right now. really, really wasn't covered in rabbinical school.
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Wisdom from my friend Aviva today. I was explaining the ‘shards of light’ - the broken vessels created at creation; Jews gather them thru acts of justice - tikkun olam. She said ‘picking up shards- sounds dangerous.’. Sometimes fixing the world involves personal risk.
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I read a thing that said we deeply need North American Jews to be critical of Israel's turn to the right, right now,. written by some guys. who have eviscerated any North American Jew. for criticizing Israel in the past 20 years. Friends, my brain nearly exploded.
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Angels: What's with this repetitive Aramaic prayer that keeps popping up over & over again in the service? Do we really need all these Kaddishes?. God: Someday there will be a pandemic, & Zoomed services, & the rabbi will need some time to find the Yahrzeit list in his email.
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My daughter just rebranded synagogue as “sparkle-gogue” . and so that’s what were calling it from now on.
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Remember this for anyone that might someday say “we overreacted.”. I really hope that is the case. It means we saved a lot of lives.
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In the 6 mos since the Tree of Life shooting:.- the President has done nothing.- Congress has done nothing.- PA legislature has done nothing.But my congregation in Erie & in Pittsburgh pay for our own armed security. America: where we are all expected to fend for ourselves.
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Shavua tov. Gave a nice Pride Shabbat sermon; state of the union of LGBT rights in Judaism. Got a lovely thank you from a gay congregant who appreciated being seen. Also was told by a random visiting messianic “Jew” that he did not approve of the sermon & that I should repent.
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I say this as a rabbi - one that prays every single day. We need medicine and ventilators and doctors and nurses and the right equipment right now. We need people to stay the **** at home and flatten the curve. Prayer is great IN ADDITION to all that stuff. Not INSTEAD of it.
The My Pillow guy Mike Lindell says this: "God gave us grace on November 8, 2016, to change the course we were on. God had been taken out of our schools & lives, a nation had turned its back on God. I encourage you to use this time at home to get back in the word. Read our Bible"
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A generation raised on Rage against the Machine and NWA and Nirvana. became rabbis. We can’t help it if, on occasion, we tell it like it is and call out hypocrisy. as folks squirm in their seats at shul.
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Jewish baking twitter got real quiet all of a sudden.
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I’m opposed to bacon. So I … don’t eat bacon. I do not feel the need to criminalize your eating of bacon. Opponents of abortion: I advise you to exercise your moral convictions by … not having abortions.
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I ATE ZERO CALORIES AND STOOD UP FOR SIX HOURS . AND GAVE THREE SERMONS . GIVE ME A BREAK APPLE FITNESS
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What has two thumbs and a contract extension?. I'm happy to announce that I am transitioning into a new role at Congregation Beth Shalom in Pittsburgh, as Associate Rabbi. 😊
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Happy commemoration of the guerrilla overthrow of Seleucid culturo-religious hegemony (observed). 🕎.
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Rashi: the text clearly means this. Ibn Ezra: No intelligent person would ever claim the text means that. Ramban: You’re both wrong. The text means something entirely different, which I will address over the next sixteen paragraphs and with 7 citations from elsewhere in Tanach. .
“Bible is really clear on this” is something that a person who owns a set of Mikraot Gedolot would never, ever say.
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Declaring aloud on twitter that someone you disagree with is “not a rabbi” is not an argument. It’s an insult. It’s an act of profound disrespect. It’s what someone does when they lack the imagination to provide a legitimate argument.
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@TexasTribune @GregAbbott_TX Texas was 48th out of 50 states in per capita mental health spending. Perhaps someone should ask the governor about that.
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Keep seeing some folks throwing around the term ‘tikkun olamites’ (‘repair the worlders’) as a disparaging insult. Hey, if you think it’s cool and holy to argue passionately in favor of ‘eff the world - helping people is dumb’. you got real problems.
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Older kid just pool tested + for Covid. There goes our seder.
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@HowardWolke You sir are a unique individualist. A rugged outdoorsman. A do-it-yourself, up by your bootstaps, hustlin' go getter. Also people don't always get your jokes.
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“Nobody wants to work anymore.”. Nope. EVERYBODY wants to work. At something meaningful and that fits their skillset. And they want to be paid what they are worth.
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I would like to encourage my clergy colleagues who have to compose words for this Shabbat or Sunday. Write what you're thinking right now. And then in a few days, don't tone it down - come harder. Now is not the time for safe words. Now is the time for real talk.
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First course for guests at your house;.Oz: Crudité. Fetterman: Sheetz Mac n Cheese bites, maybe pierogis . Shapiro: chips and guac; challah and hummus on Friday night. Mastriano: Glock 9mms and white supremacist literature.
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Currently writing a sermon on transgender rights and protecting trans kids. Trying very hard not to insert the 'f' word every couple of lines. Which is difficult because of how angry the actions of many state legislatures make me feel.
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It’s not ‘freedom’ to make selfish decisions that endanger the lives of others. It’s manslaughter.
The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally has now been linked to over 250,000 cases of COVID and is expected to reach $12B in healthcare costs. MAGA will kill you and make you broke simultaneously because you know, winning.
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Today I was reminded that in November of 2019 my religious movement. along with American Jewish movements representing 3.8 million Jews. called upon the White House to fire Stephen Miller for being a White Nationalist. The WH did nothing.
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My synagogue will be doing a 'Drive-in' Shofar service this year. No, you may not have fries with that.
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When your ethno/religious group is trending, that can't be a good thing.
Signs That Everyone Is Having A Very Chill And Fun Time Online
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“Bible is really clear on this” is something that a person who owns a set of Mikraot Gedolot would never, ever say.
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Yes, it is important to stand up for ourselves as Jews against antisemitism. But to be a good person and a Torah Jew, one must stand up against the mistreatment and oppression of others as well. And see our own role in unjust systems of misogyny, white supremacy, and racism.
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Going to the march for Israel in DC. I support a Jewish state. I support a Palestinian state. I support a shared future of our two peoples in peace. Return the hostages; alleviate humanitarian suffering, and Bibi must resign.
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OK why is Pharaoh dabbing in my daughter’s children’s Haggadah
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