Hear Our Voice

Dear CSK,

Shabbat Shalom!  

First of all, let me say that I am sorry I won’t be with y’all tonight for Shabbat.  However, I am grateful to Josh Levine, Laura Rose and Ben Rose, who have prepared a wonderful Shabbat celebration for you in my absence.

Second of all, I wanted to share with you why I will be out of town this weekend.  In short, I will be leading a retreat outside Birmingham, AL.  As...Read more...

I am not a happy camper! I was just about to get to bed at a reasonable time when yet another truly ridiculous, truly insulting and truly illuminating bad-synagogue story was related to me. Picture an 11 year old who uses a wheelchair (this is not a story about my son, by the way). This 11-year old who is physically disabled but intellectually sharp, bright and dynamic wants to attend Hebrew school at a local synagogue. The mItzvah projects...Read more...

Once upon a time, il etait un fois, habia una vez, hayah hayah….there was a boy, bored with his chores. If only he had some excitement, people might pay attention to him. So he hollered to the people of his village, “Wolf!” “Wolf!” and they came running. Upon discovering there was no wolf, his parents punished him and people went back to their jobs, mumbling under their breath. Yet another time, disconsolate and lonely, the boy...Read more...

:Ari Gold Finds God” – A Rabbinic Review of Entourage, the movie
You know its been quite a few years since I have written a movie review, but let me see if I can dredge up some of my favorite film critique techniques to offer some wise gleanings on the “bromantic comedy” (an industry term), Entourage. Clearly, the masses are awaiting this Rabbi’s review!

For viewers like myself, Entourage, the TV series, was a guilty...Read more...

Hemingway defined courage as “grace under fire.” Leading Houston author and change-maker, Brene Brown, defines courage as “whole-heartedness.” In Hebrew, when we wish someone courage, we say “Chazak v’amatz!” – “Strength and fortitude!” Over these past few weeks here in Houston, many of us inside and outside the Jewish community, have been and continue to be put to a series of tests of our courage and frankly, to use the...Read more...

I just returned from the Rockets game (we won!) about which I feel very grateful to have had the chance to attend. Not only was it game 5 of a series, which many believed would end tonight with the Rockets demise against the Clippers. But I had the great privilege of attending with my two boys, who love nothing more than the bigness of the NBA! And the fact that we won, bringing the Rockets record in this series to 2-3 with, I guess at least...Read more...

Have a few minutes? Let your day take a new, positive turn by listening to this uplifting sermon on the value of embracing our imperfections and letting go of judgment by Rabbi Scott Hausman-Weiss.

Here is the full text of the opening reading in the sermon:

“Spiritual Fitness”

If you can start the day without caffeine or pep pills,
If you can be cheerful, ignoring aches & pains,
If you can resist...Read more...

A friend of mine is dreading Passover. I asked why. She explained to me that she just feels hungry all week long. That everything that she wants to eat is forbidden. But then again, she reconsidered, maybe it isn’t. I asked if perhaps it was really a matter of deprivation. She demurred that it might be.

And here I am, the Rabbi, completely focused on the joy, the fun, the family atmosphere, and yes, fully aware that Passover also...Read more...

Now it is true that there are times when people purposely, pre-meditatively, meaningfully seek to do us harm. They contemplate it. They meditate on it. They dream about it and then they inflict their damage on our hearts and souls.

That said, more often than not, most of the time, people who say things that hurt us or do things that cause us harm are often acting quite unaware of the pain and damage they may be inflicting...Read more...

Now, before you fall over, allow me to explain. This whole debate in our society between the “religious zealots” on one side and the “religious atheists” on the other is a “red herring” of the utmost degree. And the irony that we learn from political science is even more undermining of both sides. That is that the farther right or left one moves, one eventually finds himself, coming full circle right or left. The more insistent we...Read more...