Yesterday, I had the honor of speaking on a panel about Jewish denominations at Temple Beth David in Westminster, sponsored by the Jack Broscow Brotherhood. I was one of three rabbi panelists, alongside Rabbi Joel Berman of Temple Beth Emet of Anaheim, representing Conservative Judaism, and Rabbi Nancy Myers ofContinue Reading
Last night, I took part in a “Rabbi Battle” at Moishe House of Orange County. In truth, it was less of a “battle” than a panel, of sorts (perhaps, a mini-panel, you might say), with the residents hurling a variety of questions at us that they had previously gathered fromContinue Reading
Last night, a fundraising event for SoCalJSS/SoCalJYAE was held in Long Beach. Entitled “Gin & Genocide” was the third of this year’s series of texts and tippling. Featuring a discussion on genocide in the Jewish tradition, considering Amalek, Midian, and the seven Canaanite nations, Rabbi Drew steered the conversation eventuallyContinue Reading
In just five weeks, the tenth annual Jewlicious Festival will be taking place and I have the honor of being involved in promoting it as well as speaking at it. This upcoming Jewlicious Festival will be my fifth Jewlicious Festival with which I have been involved, meaning that I willContinue Reading
A month ago, I not only had the pleasure of attending a conference for Hillel professionals on the west coast, I also co-chaired it! Taking place December 16-18, it was a good mid-year opportunity to reconvene with fellow Hillel professionals! Every year that I’ve been serving as the rabbi forContinue Reading
On Sunday, I led a Scotch-tasting and learning event for adults. This was the second in a 2013-2014 series that combines a spirits-tasting, in-depth exploration of a topic in Jewish tradition and an opportunity for people to give tzedakah to the Jewish enrichment endeavors for young adult Jews with whichContinue Reading
Fifty months ago today, my wife and I began working here in sunny Southern California! Having arrived the night of November 8, 2009, we then began working the very next day on November 9th. So, that means 4 years and 2 months ago, we began and we have made itContinue Reading
This fall, I had the pleasure of leading four different discussions with a few Hillels on various topics. The first was in October at a Starbucks in Oceanside with North County, San Diego Hillel, leading a discussion with MiraCosta College students on the topic of Relationships, where we explored textsContinue Reading
Having formally begun my young adult work (with 20s-30s) less then a year ago (under the organizational name, Southern California Jewish Young Adult Enrichment), I have experimented with different program modalities, different days of the week, and different cities in Southern California. In November and December (perhaps, January, as well),Continue Reading
This fall, I have found that I have been spending a lot of my work with/for Beach Hillel. To be specific, about 62.5% of my energy has focused on working with Beach Hillel. In contrast to throughout out last year where 44% of my time was with Beach Hillel, thisContinue Reading