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CLAL - The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership
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Opening Doors On Yom Kippur September 24, 2009 "Yom Kippur is ultimately a joyous day, promising forgiveness, atonement and reconciliation for all who seek it. But in classically Jewish fashion, the attainment of such things hinges on genuinely confronting and addressing our deepest fears, angers and hurts. Yom Kippur, as one of my nephews remarked when I explained this to him, is not for ‘wusses.’..." More... By Brad Hirschfield, Special to The Jewish Week |  |
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Spare Us The Empty Apologies; We’re Not The Ones Hurt September 20, 2009 "With Yom Kippur—the day of atonement, prayer, and fasting—arriving next week, maybe this is a good time to examine public atonements ... In fact, when South Carolina Gov. Sanford cried over his infidelity in front of microphones in June, he should have been crying in front of the person he hurt most, his wife, Kula said...." More... By Susan Campbell from The Hartford Courant |  |
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A New Fetish: Apology Voyeurism September 18, 2009 "The slew of public apologies over the past week or so from Joe Wilson, Serena Williams, and Kanye West along with the apologies during the past year from Eliot Spitzer and Mark Sanford—each offered with different degrees of sincerity and histrionics—have turned us into apology voyeurs...." More... By Irwin Kula from The HuffingtonPost.com |  |
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Rabbi: Public displays of regret cheapen apologies September 18, 2009 "A politician, athlete or celebrity misbehaves. He or she issues a mea culpa in front of flashing cameras, followed by a TV interview or tell-all book. But Rabbi Irwin Kula ... said such ‘apology tours’ neither achieve nor define true forgiveness.‘One of the things that’s happened in society is we’ve forgotten that forgiveness is a messy process’...." More... By Charita Goshay from The Canton Repository |  |
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Have you ever felt left out? September 18, 2009 "Locked out by the circumstances of your life? At one time or another, most of us have. As Yom Kippur ends, the final words of the day remind us that we hold more keys than we often imagine to the locked places in our lives...." More... By Rabbi Brad Hirschfield from Clal |  |
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Two (and a half) Holiday Kirtans left! September 24, 2009 Kick-off Kirtan at Integral Yoga Institute with Satsang and Rabbi Andrew Hahn, the Kirtan Rabbi, Sat., Sep. 26th (Shabbat Shuvah) in NYC. Register... Post-Kol Nidrei Kirtan with Rabbi Andrew Hahn at Kehillat Romemu in NYC. For more information ... From Clal |  |
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Social Media & Religion: Even The Pope’s Online! September 18, 2009 "...the core purpose of every religious and spiritual tradition is to help people understand life by being more truthful, more compassionate, and more loving ... [Rabbi] Kula notes, ‘To do this effectively we – religious and spiritual leaders – need to communicate and connect using whatever is the contemporary media architecture and technology of the day. In one era that may be offering sacrifices at a Temple, in another orating on a soapbox in the town square, at the city gates or on an altar or pulpit in a grand cathedral, in another writing articles and books, in another using radio, television or film. Today it is social media.’ ..." More... By Josh Sternberg from Mediaite.com |  |
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Rebellion against rudeness grows September 18, 2009 "...‘Civility is about protecting all of us,’ says Orthodox Rabbi Brad Hirschfield ... ‘It’s about creating a culture in which ideas can be shared, views can be expressed, songs can be sung and games can be played.’..." More... By Tim Funk from The Charlotte Observer |  |
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Awesome Days: An Interview with Rabbi Kula September 12, 2009 There really are three basic questions that these ten days invite us to think about. One is can I change as a human being? Can I really become better? I think that’s a really hard question to ask ... [the] second question is, is forgiveness possible? Can I forgive other people, and can I feel forgiven? I think that’s also a very difficult question ... the third question that runs through all of these days is am I accountable for my behavior?... More... View interview... From Religion & Ethics Newsweekly |  |
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Forgiveness: An Interview with Rabbi Kula September 15, 2009 Are there deeds that are unforgivable? How do we forgive? Anger, disappointment and feeling that we have been wronged is the first step. Forgetting is not forgiving.... Listen... From Dr. on Call with Dr. Jane Greer, Healthylife.net |  |
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Forgiveness: A How To Guide September 17 2009 "Like all New Years celebrations, it’s a chance to start over. And starting over often involves forgiveness—both giving it and getting it. Neither of those is easy, but both are within our grasp...." More... By Brad Hirschfield from Beliefnet.com Rabbi Hirschfield is interviewed on this topic on Busted Halo, Sirius Radio, 9/24/09 |  |
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Compassion and Civility in Society
September 15, 2009 Mike Collins interviews Brad Hirschfield about civility in public discourse, compassion and polarization. Listen... From Charlotte Talks with Mike Collins, WFAE (Charlotte, NC, Public Radio) |  |
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A Traveler’s Guide to Uncertain Times: Time-tested Wisdom for Navigating the Economic Crisis with Rabbis Telushkin, Blech, Kula and Jacobs September 15, 2009 JInsider.com’s documentary is airing on Shalom-TV during the High Holidays. How can we deal with the financial crisis, how do we step back, anchor ourselves and put current events into a contextual perspective? More.... From Jinsider.com |   |
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Jewish High Holy Day Service to be Streamed Live
September 16, 2009 Outside of the biblical gathering at Mt. Sinai, the annual televised Kol Nidre service that streamed online to more than 220,000 people last year may be the world’s largest single Jewish service ever. On September 27, JewishTVNetwork.com (www.jewishtvnetwork.com)will stream its third annual Kol Nidre service.... More.... From JTN Productions |  |
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Apologizing Is Hard, Just Ask Joe, Kanye and Serena, But We Can September 17, 2009 "An American Jewish leader is unimpressed by the public apologies offered by rapper Kanye West, tennis star Serena Williams and Congressman Joe Wilson after their televised outbursts.Rabbi Irwin Kula ... says the apology that matters is the one that’s made to the person who was actually offended ... apology also helps reconcile the offender to God...." More... From AP/KXnet.com (the #1 TV news website in North Dakota) Other interviews Rabbi Kula did on celebrity apologies: —A Closer Look, AP Radio, 9/15/09 (national broadcast) —Erik and Jack Attack, CRN, 9/16 —The Lars Larson Show, Westwood One, 9/17/09 |  |
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Westboro Baptist Church Hits New York
September 16, 2009 "Despite the attitude of many New York Jewish leaders, I am not certain that ignoring this famously hateful church group is the best way to go. In New York for a variety of activities, they have planned protests at numerous Jewish institutions, including Temple Beth El on Long Island, where a memorial service will be held Thursday for murdered Yale student, Anne Le. The temple was to be the site of her wedding to fiancé, Jonathan Widawsky...." More... By Brad Hirschfield from Beliefnet.com’s Windows & Doors Rabbi Hirschfield was interviewed on this topic on WLIU Long Island public radio) on 9/24/09. Hear.... |  |
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Bringing Guns to Church Fosters Danger, Not Safety September 12, 2009 The Washington Post features an excerpt of Rabbi Hirschfield’s blog: "It’s both empowering and healing for people who are threatened to take some control over a situation that threatens them....." More... By Brad Hirschfield from The Washington Post-Newsweek’s "On Faith" |  |
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Irwin Kula on Healthcare, Obama’s speech, and the civility or lack of it in the public discourse September 12, 2009 Rev. Welton Gaddy discusses these issues with Rabbi Kula. Listen... With Rev. Welton Gaddy from State of Belief, Air America |  |
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Health care debate even splits religious audience August 31, 2009 "...‘We have to ask: Do we believe that health care should be treated as a commodity, to be bought and sold no different than a car?’ said Rabbi Irwin Kula..." More... By Jeff Brumley from Florida Times Union |  |
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Rabbis mull ‘God’s Partners’ line August 24, 2009 "...‘When you say ‘who shall live and who shall die, who by thirst and who by fire,’ it can also be who by getting medical care and who by not getting medical care,’ he said. ‘If we actually find a way to ensure that there’s universal access to medical care, then we will be God’s partners in matters of life and death. It was a kind of inspirational moment speaking to religious people using religious language,’ Kula said..." More... By Ben Smith from Politico.com Brad Hirschfield was interviewed on this topic on The PM Show on Cable Radio Network, 8/20/09, and on The Busted Halo on Sirius Satellite Radio, 8/26/09 |  |
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The Health Care Debate: "Bending the Curve: Effective Steps to Address Long-Term Health Care Spending Growth" September 9, 2009 "...‘The health care debate has become polarized between right and left, conservatives and liberals, and Democrats and Republicans in ways that have not only undermined substantive conversation on one of the most important personal and public issues — our own health and the health of our families and fellow citizens, but has dangerously pitted people against each other...The Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at Brookings has just released a paper called Bending the Curve which is a result of serious conversation across significant divides resulting in a remarkable consensus...." More... By Irwin Kula from Clal Executive Summary and Full Report... From The Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at Brookings Institute |  |
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9/11: A Ritual to Remember September 11, 2009 I live in New York City. Two friends, including someone at whose wedding I had recently been the rabbi, died in the World Trade Center. The acrid smell came through my apartment windows for days and sacred ashes, which I wiped away with tears, fell on my window sills for weeks. My children, who were 13 and 10 at the time, were cut off from me and my wife, as they could not get home from school on 9/11 because the subways were closed. The father of one of my daughter’s playmates, from the time she was a toddler, was killed on 9/11. The fear we felt was unforgettable and the innocence our kids lost forever so very sad. So what message would I like to send out today 9/11? What memories do I want to preserve and wisdom do I want to learn at least for today? No words at all. Simply the following chant (using an ancient melody used to chant the Biblical book of Lamentations which describes the destruction of Jerusalem) of actual final cell phone conversations of people, who in the face of terror and the dearness of the vanishing moment, showed no anger or any desire for revenge, but simply and heroically witnessed a yearning to love and the faith that love ultimately swallows up death. Listen... By Rabbi Irwin Kula from Clal Published as "Sacred Memories: A 9/11 Ritual" in Irwin Kula’s blog on The Huffington Post Also available on The Washington Post |  |
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Learning How to Remember September 11, 2009 We have discovered the limits of our collective national memory. It's about eight years. There was almost nothing about 9/11 in the news until this morning, and even today's headlines in the nation's leading papers reflect the sense that we have moved on, that if anything, we are remembering an event that not only occurred in the past, but is no longer a real part of our present ... guess it's a good thing that we are making so little of the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks — good insofar as it reflects a diminishing level of fear, anxiety and suspicion in our country. A certain amount of forgetting is appropriate — it's part of the healing process. But we need to figure how to let go a little w/o forgetting almost entirely. I cannot help but wonder if we have not strayed too far down that latter path, the one of forgetting the past so much that we learn no lessons from it... More... By Rabbi Brad Hirschfield from Washington Post/Newsweek‘s "On Faith" |  |
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Is It Possible for a Brother to Murder His Twin? September 9, 2009 Ashleigh Banfield talks with ethical expert Rabbi Brad Hirschfield about the trial of Derris Lewis who is charged with his twin brother’s murder. Watch... From In Session with Ashleigh Banfield Tru-TV |  |
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"Love your enemies, civility advocates say" August 26, 2009 "...‘The first question when things start to spin out of control ... is not to get in the person’s face and preach about what’s right with a capital R,’ said [Rabbi Brad} Hirschfield ... ‘But asking the person who’s bent out of shape, ‘What is it you’re really terrified about?’..." More... By Adelle M. Banks from Religion News Service This article also appeared in The Oklahoman, 8/26/09 |  |
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Schools Must Avoid Imposing Religion If They Teach About It September 5, 2009 The Washington Post features an excerpt of Rabbi Hirschfield’s blog: "How much theology should be taught in our nation’s public schools? None, zip, nada...." More... By Brad Hirschfield from The Washington Post | |
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Worse than War— New Film August 7, 2009 A pre-release screening of Worse than War, co-produced by JTN Productions and 13 WNET took place on August 6, 2009. Post-screening program with Brad Hirschfield and JTN CEO and Exec. Producer Jay Sanderson ...."The real challenge in recalling any trauma is not how many facts are preserved, but how our memory of the past prevents a recurrence of its horrors for any potential victim," said Brad Hirschfield...." More... By Judy Epstein from Clal Hear the discussion... Listen to news coverage: Mitzi Rapkin from KAJX Aspen Public Radio... |  |
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Clal Selects Inaugural Class
for Its Ground-Breaking Rabbis Without Borders Fellowship Program June 5, 2009 "Rabbis Without Borders (RWB), CLAL’s new initiative to help rabbis make Jewish wisdom accessible to the wider American public, selected its first group of fellows for its competitive rabbinic fellowship program...." More... By Judy Epstein from CLAL For more about RWB and Fellows around the country: New Jersey Jewish Standard... Detroit Jewish News... The Jewish Daily Forward Washington Jewish Week Metro West New Jersey Jewish News New Mexico Jewish Link South Florida Sun-Sentinel St. Louis Jewish Light St. Louis Dispatch Santa Fe New Mexican |
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American Pilgrimage with Rabbi Brad Hirschfield June 24, 2009 Aired on Bridges TV—American Muslim TV Network, the series provides an in-depth look at the issues dividing people of faith. In these episodes, Rabbi Brad Hirschfield speaks with various Imams from around the country. In this latest episode, Rabbi Hirschfield speaks with Imam Johari Abdul-Malik, who is the Director of Outreach at the Dar Al Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Virginia. View American Pilgrimage episode 12... |
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Hirschfield and Kula: Intelligent Talk Radio Children’s Faith and Human Enhancement September 19, 2009 Listen to Brad and Irwin as they discuss how much should parents say about their children’s faith, and what ethical questions does our ability to increase our physical functionality present?... Be sure to check the website each week for more riffing with the rabbis on topics of the day. Listen .... From Hirschfieldandkula.com, broadcast on KXL, Portland, OR |
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Brad Hirschfield's
You Don't Have to Be Wrong for Me to Be Right
Irwin Kula's Award Winning Yearnings: Embracing the Sacred Messiness of Life
Remember for Life: Holocaust Survivors’ Stories of Faith and Hope
Edited by
Rabbi Brad Hirschfield
How to Spot One of Us
A Collection of Poetry
by Janet R. Kirchheimer
Hirschfield & Kula: Intelligent Talk Radio
Bringing the best of KXL's popular show to the web
on hirschfieldandkula.com
Building Bridges: Abrahamic Perspectives on the World Today
with Rabbi Brad Hirschfield
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