Renewing the Tradition of Shabbat Hospitality
The news of the massacre at a Mosque in New Zealand is another reminder of the destructive virus of acts of hatred and violence that shatter our world. The painful echoes of Charleston and Pittsburgh are heard again. As an organization that brings people through hospitality, we are especially pained ...continue reading "Our Hearts are Breaking"
From Israel to SE Alaska I picked up a young man named Joel in the University District who was loaded with gear. As it turned out he was on his way to Southeast Alaska to work as a counselor on a wilderness program for troubled teens. The teens, he told ...continue reading "Tales of the Lyfter Rebbe, Monday, Feb 25, 2019"
A key part of our Home Shabbat Experience that Panim Hadashot offers is the presence of a 'Shabbat Animator'. A Shabbat Animator "animates"-brings alive the experience of Shabbat at home. Rabbi Dov Gartenberg is our lead Shabbat Animator. He has a mastery of Shabbat table music and folksongs. As a ...continue reading "What is a Shabbat Animator?"
Panim Hadashot, the Hebrew term that is our name, means new face or new faces. The term originates in the Talmud and refers to a ancient wedding tradition of inviting guests to celebrations from beyond the immediate circles of family and friends. Panim Hadashot seeks to refresh this ancient Jewish ...continue reading "A Few New Faces"
The Passing of Two Great Israelis
We are happy to announce our Out of the Box Panim Hadashot Home Shabbat Experiences for January-February 2019. This is a unique service of Panim Hadashot that gives you an opportunity to host a great Shabbat experience in your home or community room. Invite a group or friends, family, and ...continue reading "Our Out of the Box Home Shabbat Experiences for Prospective Shabbat Hosts, January-February 2019"
My nephew, who goes to the NYU business school, identified my idea as bootstrapping. In the world of entrepreneurship, bootstrapping refers to an entrepreneur who self-funds his start-up to help it to become sustainable. Here was my idea. I would supplement my fundraising for Panim Hadashot-New Faces by becoming a ...continue reading "My Rabbi Drives a Lyft"
I have always loved to invite new faces to our home Passover Seder. This included non Jewish friends or new acquaintances I met in the course of daily life. I practiced this hospitality for two reasons. I found that the Seder caused astonishment among my guests, since there was nothing comparable to ...continue reading "Passover Hospitality"
The racism and the anti-Semitism of the white nationalists marchers in Charlottesville must be loudly condemned and marginalized. The car ramming must be designated as a terrorist attack just like similar events perpetrated by ISIS terrorists. The President has lost credibility with his silence. We must look to other leaders ...continue reading "Charlottesville"
Bloggers note: I wrote this prior to going to the March for Science on April 22, 2017. While the march is over, I believe the teaching here remains relevant in helping to understand the relationship of Judaism to science and its deeper implications for the era of fake facts and ...continue reading "Why This Rabbi Went to the March for Science on Shabbat"