Rabbi Ackerman's Blog
Rabbi David Ackerman
11/22/2010 - Thinking About the Big Stuff
Two Sundays ago, at Oheb Shalom Congregation in South Orange, NJ, my teacher Rabbi Neil Gillman spoke about the challenges of contemporary Jewish theology, presented in memory of my father in law, Rabbi Alexander M Shapiro z"l. At the heart of Rabbi Gillman's thinking is the question of what actually happened at Sinai. What, really, do we mean when we claim the Torah as a gift from God, delivered via Moses to the people of Israel? Are we speaking historically or are we articulating, in mythic terms, a sense of the Torah's sanctity and divinity and hence of our connection to God? In remembering my father in law, Rabbi Gillman spoke movingly of the need for ambiguity and, even, tension in our reflections on these difficult questions. Rabbi Shapiro would have loved the conversation that day. He was very much present in spirit. I share the above cartoon, taken from the November 15th edition of The New Yorker, as an apt summary of the complexities of theology in the 21st century.
Previous Posts
03/31/2013 - Pesah and the Language of Longing (Most Recent)02/15/2013 - Rabbi David Hartman z"l
01/18/2013 - MLK Friday Night Welcome
02/07/2013 - Last Shabbat (Yitro)
10/10/2012 - Reflections on Kohelet (Ecclesiastes)
09/27/2012 - Yom Kippur 5773
09/27/2012 - Kol Nidre 5773
09/19/2012 - Rosh Hashanah 1st Day - 5773
09/19/2012 - Rosh Hashanah 2nd Day - 5773
10/19/2011 - Shmini Atzeret and Gilad Shalit
10/11/2011 - Yom Kippur 5772
10/10/2011 - A Yom Kippur Prayer for Israel
10/10/2011 - Kol Nidre 5772
10/02/2011 - Two Rilke Poems for This Week
10/01/2011 - Rosh Hashana 5772 Day Two
10/01/2011 - Rosh Hashana 5772 Day One
08/11/2011 - Torah and Water
08/08/2011 - Tisha B`Av 5771
05/04/2011 - Israel: In Our Hearts, On Our Minds
04/20/2011 - Pesah 5771
02/25/2011 - Shabbat Vayakhel
11/22/2010 - Thinking About the Big Stuff (Current display)
11/22/2010 - Varieties of Jewish Families
10/05/2010 - Bashevis Singer on God & Creativity
09/27/2010 - Yom Kippur 5771
09/22/2010 - Kol Nidre 5771
09/22/2010 - Rosh Hashanah First Day 5771
09/16/2010 - Toward Yom Kippur
08/02/2010 - Palestine in 1912
04/09/2010 ספירת העומר Omer Counting
03/27/2010 - Time Out From Pesah Cleaning Reading
01/23/2010 - Shavua Tov - A Prayer for Haiti
01/22/2010 - MLK Unity Service - Shabbat Bo
11/24/2009 - Parashat Vayetze & Thanksgiving
10/18/2009 - 30 Tishrei 5770 - Rosh Hodesh Heshvan
10/13/2009 - Rabbi Mordecai Waxman, a Tribute
09/28/2009 - Yom Kippur Sermon 5770
09/27/2009 - Kol Nidre Sermon 5770
09/21/2009 - Rosh Hashanah 2nd Day Sermon 5770
09/21/2009 - Rosh Hashanah First Day Sermon 5770
09/17/2009 - L`shana Tova Tikateivu v`Teihateimu
08/21/2009 - Rosh Hodesh Elul
08/18/2009 - The Torah of Trees
08/14/2009 - Parashat Re`eh
08/05/2009 - Tu B`Av [The 15th of Av]
07/24/2009 - Shabbat Devarim-Hazon
07/17/2009 - Parashat Matot-Masei
07/10/2009 - Parashat Pinchas