By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
I’m a big fan of the Muppets. I don’t remember when I first saw “Sesame Street,” but I believe it must have been when I was in junior high or high school. My favorite Muppet at that time was Oscar the Grouch. I could relate to his grouchiness, a trait that r…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
While there are many political and social issues facing us in 2022, it’s a personal one that I can’t stop thinking about. To put this in perspective: the last few weeks of December were extremely difficult in my chaplaincy work with far too many deaths for reaso…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Democracy: a form of government in which people choose leaders by voting. (Merriam-Webster)
Imagine a football game where the losing team decides it was robbed because someone rigged the game and then sent its fans to storm the National Football League’s headquar…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
I never expected the words to come out of my mouth. But as the only chaplain available, I said the one thing I knew would bring comfort to the person who had told me proudly that he was a regular churchgoer: “Your friend is safe because he is resting in the arms o…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
On June 17, 1242, King Louis IX and Pope Gregory IX ordered that every copy of the Talmud on French soil be burned. The reason for this destruction was that the work contained sayings and sentiments they believed were offensive. Since this was before the printing pr…
