Black, Female and Almost a Rabbi

Black, Female and Almost a Rabbi

When I was 6 years old I told my parents I was going to become a rabbi. I was blessed to grow up with extremely supportive parents and a community full of great Jewish role models. Nonetheless, there is no one person who inspired me to be a rabbi. I wanted to be a...
A Rabbi Mourns African American Christians

A Rabbi Mourns African American Christians

“’…But, mother, I won’t be alone. Other children will go with me, And march the streets of Birmingham to make our country free.’ ‘No, baby, no, you may not go, for I fear those guns will fire. But you may go to church instead, and sing in the children’s choir…’ The...
How Kosher is “Kosher Soul?”

How Kosher is “Kosher Soul?”

What could be funnier than a black man marrying a white woman? Before you say “Loving v. Virginia,” hold on, there’s more: Make that a white Jewish woman. Isn’t that a stitch? If same-sex marriage in Alabama hasn’t convinced you we might actually be in 2015, the...
The King’s Gate

The King’s Gate

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” –Viktor E. Frankl This idea came from a Holocaust survivor, no less, who decided in the death camps...
Created In G-d’s Image

Created In G-d’s Image

L’chaim, to life, but to celebrate without knowing, would merely divert those from seeing my true being. You see, what you see is nothing short of brilliance, of strength, of success and triumph. But that is something that took decades to discover. My entire life has...