I am conducting High Holiday services online for B’nai Zion Congregation in Chattanooga, TN, from my studio pulpit in Boynton Beach, FL. Here is my message “White Jews Confronting Racism” in Kol Nidre services, 9/27/20.
The Test of Our Generation
20 SepI am conducting High Holiday services online for B’nai Zion Congregation in Chattanooga, TN, from my studio pulpit in Boynton Beach, FL. Here is my message for the second day of Rosh HaShanah. Wishing a peaceful, sweet and healthy year to all.
Synagogue During COVID and Beyond
19 SepI am conducting High Holiday services online for B’nai Zion Congregation in Chattanooga, TN, from my studio pulpit in Boynton Beach, FL. Here is my message for the first day of Rosh HaShanah. Wishing a peaceful, sweet and healthy year to all.
Message for Rosh HaShanah Evening
18 SepI am conducting High Holiday services online for B’nai Zion Congregation in Chattanooga, TN, from my studio pulpit in Boynton Beach, FL. Here is my message for the first night of Rosh HaShanah. Wishing a peaceful, sweet and healthy year to all.
The Rabbi in the Streets: Rabbi Susan Talve reflects on Black Lives Matter and her career in Jewish social justice
14 Aug
Rabbi Susan Talve
Rabbi Susan Talve is the founding rabbi of Central Reform Congregation, the only Jewish Congregation located within the city limits of St. Louis. On My Teacher Podcast, she reflects on her rabbinic career, her fights for social justice and her teachers who guided her through this work. Listen to our conversation, and subscribe to My Teacher Podcast on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, Google or iHeartRadio. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Ed Bernstein
Despair is not a strategy: Ruth Messinger reflects on her career
2 Aug
Ruth Messinger, Global Ambassador and Past President of American Jewish World Service and former Manhattan Borough President.
I’m pleased to present this episode of My Teacher podcast in which I interview Ruth Messinger on her remarkable career in New York City politics and social justice advocacy leadingAmerican Jewish World Service. She discusses the influence of many teachers in her life, with special emphasis on her mother, Marjorie Wyler, and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. Marjorie Wyler had her own distinguished career at the Jewish Theological Seminary where she produced the acclaimed program The Eternal Light program on radio and television.
Loving Both Jews and Judaism: The Life and Legacy of Rabbi Louis Jacobs
10 Jul
Rabbi Louis Jacobs, 1920-2006
Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, Park Avenue Synagogue
Rabbi Louis Jacobs (1920-2006) was one of the most significant leaders of British Jewry in the 20th century. July 17 marks the 100th anniversary of his birth. To mark this occasion, I had a conversation with Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, spiritual leader of Park Avenue Synagogue in New York, who wrote his doctoral dissertation on Rabbi Jacobs. My Teacher Podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, Google and iHeart Radio.
Walking along “Jew Street” with the late Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf
19 Jun
Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf, 1924-2008
The newest edition of the My Teacher Podcast is now online: “Walking along ‘Jew Street’ with the late Rabbi AJ Wolf.” In the podcast, I interview his son Jonathan Wolf who reminisces about the life and legacy of his father. Rabbi Wolf, of blessed memory, was a leading Reform rabbi, theologian and civil rights activist. He studied with Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, marched with Dr. Martin Luther King and mentored his young neighbor Barack Obama when he was venturing into politics. When Rabbi Wolf returned to Chicago in 1980 to begin his tenure as Rabbi of KAM Isaiah Israel, my mother Roberta was his secretary. As a youngster, I enjoyed talking baseball with him when I visited my mother at the office. His bar mitzvah gift to me was tickets to a Chicago White Sox game. In recent years, I have felt drawn to his wisdom and prophetic voice. I hope you enjoy this special Father’s Day edition of the My Teacher Podcast.
Subscribe to the My Teacher Podcast
10 May
My Teacher Podcast pilot season drops on May 24.
I’m pleased to announce the launch of the My Teacher Podcast: A Celebration of the People Who Shape Our Lives.
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote, “What we need more than anything else is not textbooks but textpeople. It is the personality of the teacher which is the text that the pupils read; the text that they will never forget.” The “My Teacher” Podcast is a quest for “textpeople.” The podcast will be a forum for leaders in different sectors to reflect on the teachers who shaped and influenced them—who, in the words of Fred Rogers, “loved them into being.” In a challenging time that requires leadership, who do leaders in our community turn to for inspiration and guidance? Tune in to the My Teacher Podcast to find out.
Download the trailer now and subscribe today. Pilot season drops on iTunes, Spotify and other distribution channels on May 24.
The phenomenon of praying online
14 AprWith COVID-19, communal life has migrated online. This includes synagogue services. Recently, I started writing about my experiences virtual “shul-hopping” and attending online services with congregations across North America. Here are my articles published so far in The Times of Israel:
From Huffington Post
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Rabbi Ed Bernstein 