Rabbi Ballaban’s Monthly Column
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 […]
Jewish Calendar Marks Many Occasions
Jewish Calendar Marks Many OccasionsBy Rabbi Ari Ballaban Most Jews are aware of two new years we celebrate per calendar year: Rosh Hashanah in the fall and the secular new year, on January 1st, in the winter. Knowledgeable Jews may also note that there is a third new year that comes each spring—Tu BiShevat—which marks […]
Human Beings Are Not Bargaining Chips
Human Beings Are Not Bargaining ChipsBy Rabbi Ari Ballaban Tuvia’s mother was wailing and tearing her hair. His father was sobbing. His sisters were terrified. “Tuvia, my dear son,” his mother cried. “My only boy, why are they tearing you away from me?” Tuvia was taken, half-asleep, to a large house where many frightened, wide-eyed […]
Lessons of the Liminal: Focusing on the Journey, not the Destination
January 1, 2019
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 […]