A Rabbi's World

Passing The Torch

Adam Dickter — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:18:00 +0000

A Rabbi's World

Rabbi Gerald C. Skolnik

Jewish Week Online Columnist

It will be my privilege, on this coming Saturday night, to formally install my son, Hillel, as the rabbi of the Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation in Florida. Technically, he’s been serving in that capacity since August 2011, but scheduling difficulties (i.e., getting the parents and other assorted family members in the right place at the right time) have delayed the formal ceremony until now.

Disneyworld Forest Hills Orlando Rabbi Ben Zion Bokser

Dealing With Catastrophic Loss

Adam Dickter — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:44:00 +0000

A Rabbi's World

Rabbi Gerald C. Skolnik

Jewish Week Online Columnist

To be effective in the pulpit rabbinate requires that one possess (or develop) an eclectic and demanding set of skills. You have to be knowledgeable in Torah, a master of synagogue skills, a good teacher, a good speaker, a good counselor, and of course it doesn’t hurt to be young and charismatic…

Brian Grobois Grieving loss mourning

What Would Isaiah Say: If the Prophets Were Voting in Florida

Lisa Shimabukuro — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:42:00 +0000

A Rabbi's World

Rabbi Gerald C. Skolnik

Jewish Week Online Columnist

For reasons that I cannot adequately explain, I recently found myself watching a few minutes of a Republican candidates’ debate in Florida.

As the Nest Empties: Entering the Next Stage

Adam Dickter — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:32:00 +0000

A Rabbi's World

Rabbi Gerald C. Skolnik

Jewish Week Online Columnist

After months of anticipation laden with some odd admixture of dread, pride, satisfaction, and a few other random emotions, our nest officially empties this Saturday night. Our third child, a junior at Barnard who has already lived at school for almost three years, leaves for a semester abroad in Copenhagen- much farther away than Morningside Heights. With our youngest in Israel for the year, our oldest in Florida, and our older daughter in Japan, we are left without children to pack up and send away.

Barnard empty nest Maimonides Ten Commandments

Rabbinic Moments Of Reprieve: What Makes It All Worth It

Adam Dickter — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 21:06:00 +0000

A Rabbi's World

Rabbi Gerald Skolnik

Jewish Week Online Columnist

For a variety of reasons. the pulpit rabbinate is a high-stress job.

First of all, and most obvious, I would think, you have to deal with more illness, cosmic unfairness, death and dying than almost anyone else except physicians. Being on call 24/7, and having to be strong and composed for others who are suffering and/or grieving exacts a tremendous toll in both the short and long run. Taking care of one’s own inner life as a rabbi is an under-appreciated challenge. The accumulated grief wears you down.

co commute congregants job stress

The Meta Idea Of Israel

Adam Dickter — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 15:24:48 +0000

A Rabbi's World

Rabbi Gerald C. Skolnik

Jewish Week Online Columnist

There is probably no more cliché way to open a speech or article about Israel than to say something like “These past few weeks and months have been difficult ones for Israel.” It’s cliché because one would be hard-pressed to think of a time when that was not true. Rarely are we afforded a time to focus on the glories of Israel, which are many, and not the problems that seem to plague it from all angles and directions.

diaspora Jews IDF Israel kiddushin U.S.-Israel relationship

A Northern Jew In The Heart of Dixie

Adam Dickter — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 16:47:00 +0000

A Rabbi's World

Rabbi Gerald C. Skolnik

Jewish Week Online Columnist

Because my wife works in an academic setting, the end of December is usually a good time for us to get away for a week or so. Synagogue activity tends to slow down then as well because so many people are away. It is, as I like to call it, a great opportunity to “air out.”

Charleston Jews in the South Steven Covey

Religious Zealotry, Then and Now

Adam Dickter — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 17:47:00 +0000

A Rabbi's World

Rabbi Gerald Skolnik

Jewish Week Online Columnist

I love Chanukah. I love the fact that it gives us a reason to celebrate when the days are dark and (relatively) cold, and to light a light against the darkness. Last but most certainly not least, Chanukah also reminds us of the power of faith in God, and in the rightness of our cause, to carry us to victory in times of trouble, even against insurmountable odds.

This year, however, as we celebrate the ancient victory of the Maccabees, I am deeply concerned.

Chanukah: Minor Festival, Major Message

Adam Dickter — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 20:53:00 +0000

A Rabbi's World

Rabbi Gerald Skolnik

Jewish Week Online Columnist

Just a few weeks ago, I wrote a piece for this paper about Pilgrims and Native Americans. It spoke of how the legacy of the Thanksgiving story often falls prey to deconstructionists, who value historical truth over cultural myth at all cost. Rather than have children- and, for that matter, adults- celebrate a cherished American belief in a common appreciation of blessings, they would argue that historical reality in all of its messiness- or at least, the probability of its being reality- must trump exercises in feel-good nostalgia rooted in legend.

Al Hanissim Chanukah Iran nuclear threat Maccabees native Americans pilgrims

Thoughts On That Israeli Ad Campaign

Adam Dickter — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:54:27 +0000

A Rabbi's World

Rabbi Gerald Skolnik

Jewish Week Online Columnist

Much ink has already been spilled on the ill-fated ad campaign launched by Israel’s Ministry of Absorption, aimed at convincing Israelis living here in the United States to return to Israel. I’m afraid I’m going to spill a little more.

Ministry of Absorption Yom Hazikaron

Where Are The Good Candidates For President?

Adam Dickter — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:51:00 +0000

A Rabbi's World

Rabbi Gerald Skolnik

Jewish Week Online Columnist

I am not among those who routinely dismiss President Obama’s presidency as a failure, nor do I count myself among those who see him as an enemy of Israel. I regard him as a good and honorable man- a thoughtful man- who was swept into office on the wings of his great oratorical skills. In so doing, he carried on his back the desperate hopes of an American people, fearful that the economic meltdown of 2008 was destroying the way of life that they had come to know, and depend on.

2012 Bachmann election Obama

Of Pilgrims and Native Americans: The Enduring Power of Myth

Adam Dickter — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:54:00 +0000

A Rabbi's World

Rabbi Gerald Skolnik

Jewish Week Online Columnist

As I walked down the hall of my synagogue towards my office earlier this week, I was distracted by the happy sounds of young children having themselves a very good time. I detoured into the room where our Nursery School had gathered for a “holiday feast,” and everyone- faculty and children- was in costume. There were Pilgrims, and Native Americans, and even a few turkeys thrown in for good measure. I couldn’t help but smile- such a sweet scene!

George Washington Pavlovian Thanksgiving

Missing Yitzchak Rabin

Adam Dickter — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 11:14:59 +0000

A Rabbi's World

Rabbi Gerald C. Skolnik

Jewish Week Online Columnist

Falling as it did this year so close to the seventy-third anniversary of Kristallnacht, when German and Austrian houses of worship literally went up in smoke and flame, I feel as if I personally haven’t paid enough attention to the sixteenth anniversary of the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin.

Kristallnacht Shlomo Artzi Yitzchak Rabin

The Shame of Penn State

Adam Dickter — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 12:15:00 +0000

A Rabbi's World

JTA

There are many things in this world that are sad, and there are some things that are sadder than others. But within that hierarchy, there is nothing sadder, in my humble opinion, than the willful abuse of children. When those who are least able to defend themselves physically and emotionally are allegedly subjected to the most horrific kind of victimization, then we intuitively know that we have reached the bottom of the barrel of human behavior. No child should have to suffer that indignity, and live with that shame and psychic pain.

abuse Paterno Penn State Sandusky

Religion, Guilt And The Jewish Condition

Adam Dickter — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:10:00 +0000

A Rabbi's World

Rabbi Gerald Skolnik

Jewish Week Online Columnist

Rabbi Gerald Skolnik

Through the years, I’ve grown reluctant to divulge my rabbinic identity to those whom I meet on vacation, or in a purely social context far away from work.

God Guilt Jews mitzvot Rabbis Torah