By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
“This year it’s different.” That’s the Jewish Federation of Greater Binghamton’s slogan for its Campaign 2025. When I first mentioned the slogan to a friend, she said it was so vague that she didn’t know what it meant. Although Federation Executive Direc…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
I’ve written before about how I like to pause during the fall holiday season and appreciate the many things in my life for which I am grateful. Since parts of 2024 were emotionally difficult for a number of reasons, this feels even more important this year.
Some …
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
I’ve been watching videos of “Saturday Night Live Weekend Update” hosts Michael Che and Colin Jost on my Facebook feed. The videos began to pop up after I read about Che and Jost exchanging jokes while a real-life rabbi sat at their desk, shaking her head at t…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Before the 2016 election, I wrote that there was a great deal of anger in our country and that whoever became president needed to find a way to heal our increasingly polarized nation. Unfortunately, that did not happen. In fact, that anger has festered and become wo…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap the corners of your field, nor should you gather the gleaning of your harvest. And you should not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the …
