Author Archives: Rabbi George Gittleman

A number of years ago, I remember Rabbi Robinson calling me during a pretty tough time in my life and saying that he hoped this Hanukkah would bring a little more light into my life. It was a simple, sweet … Continue reading →

Ah, the rain! I went for a walk in the rain this morning to share in its blessing.  It was misty and damp and I meandered along a path covered with a yellow, orange- red carpet of fallen fall foliage … Continue reading →

What is a Jew? That question seems never to go away and is especially present in my life these days thanks to a course Rabbi Kramer and I are teaching on “Peoplehood” sponsored by the Shalom- Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. … Continue reading →

Andy Lopez has been on my mind. I’ve read everything I can get my hands on regarding what happened. I’ve gone to the site of his death and I participated in an interfaith prayer vigil, yet at this point all … Continue reading →

Tonight is Simchat Torah, the celebration of the Torah and the annual cycle of its recitation and study in the Jewish community. During the course of the year the whole Jewish world, more or less at the same time, rolls … Continue reading →

I write this as my plane jets its way through a thick layer of grey cumulus clouds, a wet, whirling blanket of grey so common in Southeast Alaska. I am on my way home after a week in Juneau, visiting … Continue reading →

In the Torah reading cycle of the synagogue we are now in the midst of B’midbar, the book of Numbers, and among the extraordinary things written there is one line easily missed, yet worthy of serious consideration: “Now Moses was … Continue reading →

I was recently asked by the CCAR Press to submit my answers to four theological questions as possible entries in a book they will be publishing in the coming year. I’ve just finished the first draft of my answers, and … Continue reading →

The roster of Jewish holy days this time of year functions like a Rorschach chart for Jewish identity. Passover, for example, has many themes but it is safe to say that concern for the oppressed or Social Justice is its … Continue reading →

What does it mean to be a slave?  What does it mean to be free?  Pesakh could be summed up as a dialectic, a dialogue between these two poles of existence — from degradation to redemption; from slavery to freedom. … Continue reading →