From the Executive Editor

In My Own Words: More than one million gone

By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

More than one million Americans have died of COVID during the pandemic. More lives have been lost to this disease than the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the two world wars, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan combined. The death toll is greater than the death t…

In My Own Words: U.S.A. in a dystopian Wonderland

By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

“Curiouser and curiouser!” – Alice in “Alice in Wonderland” 

Universities are bowing to pressure and rejecting speakers whose views aren’t in complete accord with the politics of their most strident students. School boards and local legislatures are ba…

In My Own Words: All the presidents’ children

By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

Maybe it’s time for the Justice Department to investigate Hunter Biden’s business practices. Before Democrats start complaining and Republicans start cheering, I also think we need an investigation into Don Jr., Ivanka, Eric and Tiffany Trump’s business activi…

In My Own Words: Collective illusions and society

By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

I recently read an interesting book on the sociology of social theory called “Collective Illusions: Conformity, Complicity and the Science of Why We Make Bad Decisions” by Todd Rose. I found the book fascinating, especially when it exposed my biases and my inabi…

In My Own Words: Looking back on my rabbinate

By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

I never had a bat mitzvah. In fact, I’m a Hebrew school dropout. I have led services, read Torah and taught an adult b’nai mitzvah class, all without calling attention to that fact. Oh, and I graduated from rabbinical school too. I had thought of leading a Shab…