On My Mind

The Balfour Declaration, Then and Now

Nov 02, 2017

This month we mark two anniversaries of momentous events in the history of Zionism and the State of Israel: 100 years since the Balfour Declaration, issued by the government of Great Britain on November 2, 1917, and 70 since the United Nations vote on November 29, 1947, for the partition of Palestine. It’s safe to say that had either of these events not occurred, there would be no State of Israel today. It is no less true that both created problems and dilemmas for which a solution is still nowhere in sight.

Yom Kippur 2017: Atoning Before God, Together

Oct 02, 2017

The subject of my remarks this evening is the passage in the mahzor—especially meaningful to me, and in some ways quite problematic—that we will recite no fewer than ten times on this tenth day of Tishrei, five times individually and five times as a group. I refer of course to the vidui, or confessional. Ashamnu, bagadnu, gazalnu, we will say, all the way through the Hebrew alphabet to shihatnu, and—for good measure—three sins beginning with the letter tav.

Days of Awe, Uncertainty, and Good Deeds

Sep 18, 2017

For many Jews in North America this year, the awe felt during the Days of Awe contains a greater measure of fear and trepidation than usual. “Who will perish by fire, and who by water . . . who by earthquake and who by plague . . . who will be at peace and who will be troubled?” The High Holiday liturgy reminds us, if reminder is needed in 2017, that uncertainty is our lot as human beings.

Why Ramah Works—and Why It’s Essential

Aug 31, 2017

The great sociological theorist Peter Berger passed away earlier this summer, just as thousands of Jewish kids were heading off to immersive camp experiences that build and sustain identity in ways that Berger’s ideas brilliantly help to explain. Visiting Camp Ramah New England right after reading the obituary for Berger in the Times, I could not help reflecting through the lens of his theory on the magic taking place before my eyes.

Strengthening the Bonds of Jewish Unity

Dec 01, 2015

JTS marked the hundredth yahrzeit of Solomon Schechter last week with a short service of commemoration at Minhah, a moving visit to Schechter’s grave at which I was joined by executive vice chancellor and chief operating officer Marc Gary and several recent JTS alumni, and a historic gathering of rabbis, educators, and leaders of all the major Jewish religious movements.

Dear High, Dear Central High

May 05, 2015

I walked the halls of my high school last week for the first time since I graduated 46 years ago. It was, no pun intended, a real high: not only for reasons of sentiment and the pleasures of nostalgia—the cafeteria exactly as I remembered it; the corridors and lockers the same except for fresh coats of paint; the English class with the blackboard where I knew it would be and the desks scattered in proper disorder—but because the students of today were every bit as motivated, talented, and happy in their learning as I remembered my classmates were way back when.

Commentary Symposium: The Jewish Future

Oct 29, 2015

The impossibility of predicting the long-term Jewish future in America or anywhere else was highlighted for me recently by the announcement of a scholarly conference devoted to the question of whether the world’s food supply would still be adequate in 2030—a mere 15 years from now.

Jerusalem and Zionism on Edge

Oct 27, 2015

Jerusalem was on edge this week, its Jews fearful of the next knifing or shooting that would come soon and without warning; its Arabs subject to added inspections and fearful of police and Jewish popular anger alike. Fewer people than usual were on the sidewalks; busses had fewer riders, with soldiers prominent among them.

Out of the Depths

Sep 30, 2015

What I will most remember about the recent multireligious gathering with Pope Francis at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum is the hush that awaited and greeted him. I don’t remember anyone giving a direction for silence.

‘Who’s God?’

Sep 24, 2015

My observance of Yom Kippur this year was greatly enriched by a recent New Yorker cartoon by Harry Bliss that provided useful entrée to the serious matters that occupied Jews for the long day of fasting and prayer. It takes a minute to get the “God” joke: part of its appeal—“Who’s God?”—has never been an easy question for Jews to answer.

High Holiday Message from Chancellor Arnold M. Eisen

Sep 02, 2015

Forty years ago this fall, I moved into an apartment in the Kiryat Moshe neighborhood of Jerusalem and began participating in a program called Mishmar Ezrachi, or civil guard.

My Response to Timothy Cardinal Dolan’s Address on the 50th Anniversary of Nostra Aetate

May 20, 2015

The following is adapted from the address I delivered on May 6, 2015, on the occasion of Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan’s Return to JTS for the Annual John Paul II Center Lecture for Interreligious Dialogue.

In Appreciation of Torah—and the Rabbis Who Teach It

May 05, 2015

The following is adapted from the address I delivered on April 29, 2015, at the JTS Convocation honoring members of the Rabbinical Assembly who have served the Jewish community with distinction for 25 years or more.

A Vote for MERCAZ USA: Slate #2 Is a Vote for Conservative Judaism and for Israel

Feb 05, 2015

I write to urge you to support MERCAZ USA: Slate #2 (Masorti / Conservative Movement) in the World Zionist Organization (WZO) elections that are taking place now through the month of April.

Speaking to and About Israel

Jan 15, 2015

At the first-ever Israeli conference devoted to the religious thought and political activism of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, former professor of Jewish Ethics and Mysticism at JTS, which took place in Jerusalem a few weeks ago, my subject was the talk that Heschel himself gave in Jerusalem in 1957 at a conference of world Jewish leaders gathered by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and future president Zalman Shazar.

Home for the Holidays

Dec 18, 2014

As I was driving in Tel Aviv the other day, a commercial came on the radio that caused me to sit up and take notice. It featured “Ma’oz Tzur” sung to the tune of “Jingle Bells,” followed by a resonant male voice that asked the listener to imagine what might happen if Santa Claus lit Hanukkah candles this year. Many Israelis are making a similar move, the announcer continued, trading in German-made automobiles for Cadillacs: “Shouldn’t you think of joining them?”

From Toronto to Hollywood in Search of the Key to Jewish Cultural Survival

Dec 04, 2014

Author David Bezmozgis, in dialogue with me a few weeks ago before an overflow audience at Beth Tzedec Congregation in Toronto, put his finger on a basic point of Diaspora Jewish life that to my mind is too often skirted, ignored, or denied.

A Talk on Religion, God, and the Internet

Nov 10, 2014

Delivered by Chancellor Arnold M. Eisen, National Library of Israel Conference, Jerusalem, October 20, 2014. As I sat in shul during the Yamim Nora’im a few weeks ago, I wondered—with this talk in mind—how I should feel about being inscribed and sealed for life in an eBook. “Remember us for life, Sovereign who delights in life, and inscribe us in the Book of Life, for Your sake, God of life.”

Betting on Hope

Oct 30, 2014

It’s not often that a museum makes history as well as chronicles it, and rare too when otherwise cautious observers, chastened by the repeated experience of expectations gone awry, remark at the opening of a new museum that it may prove a source of hope and pride that propels an entire society forward.

High Holiday Message from Chancellor Arnold M. Eisen

Sep 10, 2014

This has been a momentous and disturbing year for Jews who care about the future of their people and their tradition. 5774 began with news of prestigious research that cast doubt on the vitality and viability of the Jewish community in America.

Share This Page