Rabbi Koppell’s Writings
91. “Religion- the relatively modest dogma that God is not mad.”- Salvador de Madariaga Though sometimes it seems that way, doesn’t it. The incomprehensible variety of the creation, not to mention the inexplicable challenges life brings, both could lead us to question the sanity of the Creator. Without descending into…
Devarim: Just Say Yes Well, it’s the beginning of the end. No, not in our culture, though you might feel that way. I mean in our weekly Torah reading. This week we read Parshat Devarim, the first selection in the 5th and final book of the Torah, Deuteronomy. …
In the Gettysburg address, President Abraham Lincoln described the United States of America as “conceived in liberty.” The story of the Jewish people shares this common thread: our foundational epic is the exodus from Egypt, a celebration of freedom from tyranny. When we reflect on our own history as Jews-…
I grew up in a conservative Jewish home in Brooklyn, NY. Camp Ramah, USY, I even studied in the Teacher’s Institute at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Yet when it came time for rabbinical school, back in 1976, the conservative movement was not yet ordaining women. That wouldn’t happen until…
Unetaneh Tokef and the Pope Rabbi Bonnie Koppell September 2013 What do you know about St. Francis of Assisi, and what does he have to do with the Unetaneh Tokef prayer? One of the best news stories of this past year, as far as I’m concerned, was the…
“”Wherever the tree of knowledge stands is Paradise,” says the oldest and the youngest serpents.”- Friedrich Nietzsche Would love to know the context of this quote. AND- Nietzsche seems to be talking about the joy of learning, describing the fact that there are opportunities to learn everywhere at every…
shared from Greater Phoenix Jewish News- https://www.jewishaz.com/religiouslife/increasing-happiness/article_9a524224-f39f-11ef-af50-27b35c2e0c56.html There is a lot to be happy about on this Shabbat. Not only is it Shabbat, but it is also Rosh Chodesh Adar. That is, we officially enter into the month that we identify with joy, the month in which we will celebrate…
“I desired liberty; for liberty I gasped; for liberty I uttered a prayer; it seemed scattered on the wind then faintly blowing. I abandoned it and framed a humbler supplication. For change, stimulus. That petition, too, seemed swept off into vague space. ‘Then’, I cried, half desperate, ‘grant me at…
“No time of life is so beautiful as the early days of love, when with every meeting, every glance, one fetches something new home to rejoice over.”- Soren Kierkegaard, Either/Or Vol. I I love this quote. How true it rings! Oh- he has the same initials as I have! …
One of the things you have to love about the Army is the never-ending supply of acronyms. Many of them are familiar- AWOL- Absent Without Leave, SNAFU- let’s stick with the PG version- Situation Normal, All Fouled Up. Then there are the lesser known but highly useful acronyms-…