Rabbi Koppell’s Writings
Did you read where Dr. Ruth Westheimer has a new job? At the age of 95, she was just appointed as New York’s first “loneliness ambassador.” I’m not sure exactly what the job entails or how she is going to go about fulfilling her responsibilities, but the governor said that,…
As the holiday of Chanukkah draws to a close, I am struck by the fact that this is the only Jewish holiday that celebrates a military victory. The victory of the few against the many when it had seemed improbable, the struggle for the right to be different, to live…
A commentary on Parshat Vayeitze published in the Jewish News of Greater Phoenix, Nov. 24, 2023 In Genesis 27:13-14 God speaks to the patriarch Jacob in a dream, “This land upon which you are lying, I give it to you and your descendants. Your descendants will be as the dust…
THANK YOU TO MY NON-JEWISH MILITARY COLLEAGUES AND FRIENDS- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote these powerful words- “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” Many in the Jewish community are feeling very alone right now, abandoned by…
And so it begins again. This week, Parshat Bereshit, we have the opportunity to open our Torah scroll to the very beginning and take it from the top. The creation of the world. The almost immediate expulsion from paradise. The flood, Abraham and Sarah, enslavement and freedom, wandering, entering the…
Violating the Law of Land Warfare Rabbi Bonnie Koppell CH (COL) USAR- Retired War has been part of human history for as long as we know. In the Torah, , by Genesis 14 Avram is doing battle with 4 local kings, and his nephew Lot is captured. Avram is forced…
Israel at War Simchat Torah 2023 Rabbi Bonnie Koppell It was just last night, in the before time, that Alan Zeichick and I were chatting before our joyous Shabbat and Simchat Torah celebration. He commented that Simchat Torah is his favorite holiday because it is “pure joy.” I loved and…
A Jewish Perspective on Artificial Intelligence Rabbi Bonnie Koppell Kol Nidre 2023 I want you to look at the Torah. I want you to think about what the Torah is and what it means and has meant to the Jewish people. And how a sefer Torah comes to life. Parchment…
Are you happy to be here this morning? I am! First of all, I’m happy that we can be together. Personally I am not yet so far past the trauma of the COVID-era as to take for granted what it means to have the option of being with each other…
Labor Day- check. Selichot- tomorrow night. Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur- imminent. Are you ready for yet another holiday? And I don’t mean Sukkot or even Hoshanah Rabbah! Get this! I just learned that this past week was- drumroll please- the International Week of Enthusiasm. You heard me right. The…