The Latest from BZBI
How Do You Count an Omer?
How do you count an Omer? At the end of the second seder we begin one of the most arcane rituals in Jewish religious practice. It is also one of the easiest mitzvoth to observe. I have a soft spot for arcane rituals. In most cases they are the most ancient rituals…. Read More
Mazel Tov to Jacob!
Jacob Luterman is a kind-hearted 13 year old who enjoys his friends, fantasy fiction books, tennis, soccer, fishing and most subjects at school. He seems to have inherited the collector’s gene from both his grandfathers. Coins, currencies from around the world, stamps, minerals and various card collections to name a few! Currently in 7th grade at Masterman, Jacob has always… Read More
Four Redemption
Pesach 5776/ 23 April 2016
During my second year in Chicago, I helped start a RESOLVE peer-led infertility support group at Anshe Emet, a project that grew out of Rebecca’s and my struggles, through the past decade, to build our family in the face of an infertility diagnosis. I knew from personal experience that while we often talk of “infertility” as… Read More
Recap of Dennis Ross
What a treat! Living in Center City we are constantly bombarded with events that are educational, intellectual, or entertaining. What a special treat when an event is all three and we can brag that it is presented at BZBI. Ambassador Dennis Ross, whose impressive resume includes special assistant to President Obama, National Security Council senior… Read More
Speech, Stories, and Slavery
Shabbat HaGadol 5776/16 April 2016
In the brisk Latvian autumn of 1963, sixteen-year-old Yosef Mendelevich learned of a small group of Jews who spent Sundays in a pine forest outside Riga known as Rumbuli. On November 29 and December 8, 1941, Nazis and Latvian collaborators had murdered 25,000 Jews in that forest; but for twenty years, amid the terror of Stalinism,… Read More
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