There is nothing in me that shall ever forget
02/12/2013 07:26:00 AM
"There is nothing in me that shall ever forget" The great Russian poet, Yevtushenko, penned these words in his moving treatment of the massacres at Babi Yar in September 1941. The poem was recited during our memorial ceremony at the Babi Yar site. These words framed the days' experiences and have become a call to action as our group prepares to leave for Israel in the morning.
I have to share one more snapshot of the...Read more...
A Bar Mitzvah in Kiev?
02/08/2013 11:01:00 AM
The afternoon of our first day continued with a visit to the home of 12 year old Daniil and his mother Sofia. Sofia is raising Daniil all by herself and struggles every month to make ends meet. She and Daniil knew nothing of the JDC, the Beiteinu social services program, or JAFI and their summer camp program, Tzror until a year ago, when a Jewish neighbor saw them struggling and recommended to them to get...Read more...
Open Closed Open
02/07/2013 03:07:00 PM
This title of a Yehudai Amichai poem captures so much of what we experienced on our first full day on the ground in Kiev. There was a time when Jewish life thrived in this part of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. Great study halls of rabbinic masters and vibrant centers of Jewish culture animated this often war-torn and politically tumultuous region. Religious freedom came with the Bolshevik Revolution and many Jews became...Read more...
A Journey to Kiev with Purpose
01/30/2013 10:20:00 AM
The last time I thought about the plight of Jews in the former Soviet Union was in 1997 at the Pesah seder of my girlfriend's (and soon to be fiancé's) family. We sat around the table and read line by line from the booklet their family had been using for decades. As the reading made its way to me, I was given the part about modern oppression and specifically about the still oppressed and not yet free Jews from behind the...Read more...
Dr. Seuss Explains the Rules of the Sukkah
10/23/2012 11:30:00 AM
Dr. Seuss Explains the Rules of the Sukkah (with numbered footnotes)
You can build it very small(1)
You can build it very tall(2)
You can build it very large(3)
You can build it on a barge
You can build it on a...Read more...
Rabbi Hoffman travels to Hungary and Israel
03/02/2012 12:54:00 PM
מעמיקים מצינו ראשית צמי-ת 'אולתינו
We have learned on several occasions that the JDC, the Joint Distribution Committee, is not involved in sustaining Jewish communities; rather its...Read more...
Rabbi Hoffman travels to Hungary and Israel
03/01/2012 10:34:00 AM
מעמיקים מצינו ראשית צמי-ת 'אולתינו
Our morning began in a progressive Neologue shul in the Buda area of the city called the Leo Frankel synagogue. (see photos) We arrived in the midst of the preliminary...Read more...
Rabbi Hoffman travels to Hungary and Israel
02/28/2012 10:04:00 AM
Day 1:
The drizzly and overcast weather on our early morning arrival in Budapest forecast the tone for our journey through the city over the next three days. There is a darkness, palpable and ominous that we will encounter in all the private spaces and that will also occasionally spill...Read more...
Day 5 - Here Comes the Sun - Here Comes Shabbat!
07/12/2011 11:34:00 AM
You would think that a 4 AM departure from a tent in the middle of the desert would be sufficient cause to overthrow the rabbi and rush to the closest Hilton Hotel! But, I could not have been more impressed by our entire group's deep patience and good nature to pick up and go forth. As it turned out, it was totally worth it.
After a short drive from the Bedouin tent to the Roman ramp on the west side of the Masada fortress, we hiked...Read more...
Day 4: Appreciating Our Comforts the Hard Way
07/06/2011 12:11:00 PM
Sadly, we had to pack up our luggage and prepare our departure from the idyllic guest house at Maagan Eden and make our descent from the Galillee to the Negev. But, our day ahead was filled with exciting sights and sites.
We began our morning walking the streets of the ancient city of Beit Shean. One of the largest and most well excavated archeological sites in the country, if not the world, Beit Shean has generations of cities upon...Read more...
Mon, April 28 2025
30 Nisan 5785
