Cantor, Teacher, Writer
The recent death of Stephen Hawking made me think of his famous work, A Brief History of Time. This book has been described as the most bestselling book that no one has ever finished. I was no exception. There was simply no way I could comprehend much of what was written (the illustrations were kind ...
One of the most important ways of understanding the Bible is to remember the saying of the Rabbis: דיברה תורה כלשון בני אדם The Torah speaks in the language of mankind. That is, the text is purposely presented in a way that we can relate to. So it should come as no surprise that as ...
You gotta hand it to those ancient rabbis--they sure knew how to tackle classroom management. In fact, we read about their nuanced understanding of effective pedagogical techniques each year at the Passover Seder. Forget everything you thought you knew about education. The rabbis had it all figured out: there are simply four kinds of learners--the ...
Long ago, I think some corporate executives within the Organization of Jewish Religion decided that they had a ratings problem. Christian merch was flying off the shelves and their branding was expanding around the globe. The Jews felt they had something special--after all, it was their legacy product that set the stage for everything that ...
דע לפני מי אתה עומד Da lifnei mi atah omed Know before whom you stand These words commonly adorn the bimahs and arks of countless synagogues around the world, and presumably serve to remind us that we are in the presence of God (and to stop texting during services). Instead, could these ubiquitous words ...
Everyone loves watching the outtakes from a movie--sometimes presented during the credits or as part of the bonus features of the DVD. (Does anyone watch DVDs anymore??) Unfortunately, all of my scenes are live presentations with no chance to redo them. I've had more than a few bloopers in my many years as a cantor. ...
Over the years, my colleagues and I are constantly asked the question, "Why did you become a cantor?" The best response I ever heard was "So I could have awkward conversations with the person sitting next to me on the plane." It's something that I never envisioned, but whenever I'm a guest at an event, ...
