It’s no secret that Jews love a good argument; it’s a fact that the community has embraced for centuries. One thing that is getting harder for Jews to argue about, however, is Israel. On December 15, 2014, Beth Israel played host to an event sponsored by J Street and featuring...
On November 19, 2014 Beth Israel sent out this press release. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BETH ISRAEL SENIOR RABBI MICHAEL BERK ISSUES STATEMENT ON SYNAGOGUE ATTACK IN JERUSALEM NOVEMBER 19, 2014, San Diego, CA – We are shocked and saddened by the murders of four rabbis in Jerusalem Tuesday. With broken...
By Rabbi Jordie Gerson A few weeks ago, I was listening to one of my favorite NPR shows, called OnBeing. Every few weeks on OnBeing, the show’s host, Krista Tippett, interviews theologians and religious leaders, physicists and poets, yogis and monastics, about meaning, faith, ethics and ideas. And about a...
Rabbi Berk’s Yom Kippur sermon asks “Is liberal Zionism dead?” Written for his son, Rabbi Berk talks about Israel and our covenant with the Jewish nation. Read the sermon below, or see the article in the Times of San Diego. By Rabbi Michael Berk This morning I want to talk...
By Rabbi Michael Berk Brett Butler, the comedienne, not the baseball player, was interviewed by David Letterman after the Northridge earthquake many years ago. She said: “Do you know how you could tell the difference between the Christians and the Jews? The Christians were running around saying, ‘Oh my God;...
By Rabbi Michael Berk Mr. Schwartz takes his tallis to the cleaner, and the cleaner says, “It’ll be $10 to clean this shawl. Mr. Schwartz returns a few days later, and is presented with a bill for $345! “What is the meaning of this? You told me $10.” “Yes,” said...
By Rabbi Jordie Gerson The Binding of Isaac, The Unbinding of Abraham, and Sarah’s Choice Tomorrow morning, we will read the Aqeda, the binding of Isaac, a story that has, for years, disturbed me. As a teenager, the story of Abraham attempting to sacrifice his son seemed to confirm what...
By Rabbi Jordie Gerson Drash for Parshat Ki Tavo Today is the birthday of the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidic Judaism, a man who once said about the Shma Koleinu, one of the most famous prayers of the high holidays: “In the Shma Koleynu prayer it says, “Al...
August 22, 2014 Look, Listen, Return…and then Choose This upcoming Tuesday night, we enter the holiest period of the Jewish year; the month of Elul. Elul, the Hebrew month that precedes the high holy days is the last month of the Jewish year and is a time of intense reflection,...
By Rabbi Jordie Gerson August 8, 2014 This past Tuesday, we observed the holiday – or rather, the fast day, of Tisha B’Av, which commemorates every major tragedy in Jewish history. And it’s customary to end the week containing tisha b’av with the reading of the Haftorah portion from the...
