Rabbi Ballaban’s Monthly Column
Whimsical Weather in the Ancient World and Today
Whimsical Weather in the Ancient World and TodayRabbi Ari Ballaban In light of this year’s ongoing and unpredictable winter weather, I cannot help but think of one of my favorite, quirky talmudic stories. The Babylonian Talmud tells of an especially troubling time of drought in Jerusalem. The Rabbis had been unsuccessful in praying for […]
Lessons of the Liminal: Focusing on the Journey, not the Destination
Lessons of the Liminal: Focusing on the Journey, not the DestinationBy Rabbi Ari Ballaban Liminality—though some consider this word needless jargon, I suspect it nevertheless is a favorite of many rabbis (though Rabbi Chessin prefers “bifurcation!”) This densely descriptive term is one that people who study religion love to love, because it enables them to name an important type of experience that crosses boundaries of culture, time, and […]
Hanukkah Can Help with Crisis of Faith
Hanukkah Can Help with Crisis of FaithBy Rabbi Ari Ballaban Like many Jews, I have a little bit of family in Israel. My Israeli relatives (cousins, aunts and uncles) moved there in the wake of the Holocaust; the rest of my family chose to come to America. One might expect the Israeli side of my […]
Jewish Tradition Confronts Power with Truth
Jewish Tradition Confronts Power with TruthBy Rabbi Ari Ballaban In the wake of the national spectacle that was last month’s confirmation process of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, there have been many people around the country who have wondered if the #metoo movement should now be considered dead. This emotionally charged question is liable to […]
Makor Year Off to Wonderful Start for All Ages
Makor Year Off to Wonderful Start for All AgesBy Rabbi Ari Ballaban On Sunday, September 23rd, we began another exciting year of Makor at Temple Beth Or! Our first day was action-packed, and it was lovely to see parents and children who had not been together for much of the summer reunite. It also was […]
Our Differences Are Our Strengths
March 1, 2019
Our Differences Are Our Strengths By Rabbi Ari Ballaban Then Haman said to Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate…” It was with these words, according to Megillat Esther, that Haman began his explanation to King Ahasuerus of why the […]