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A New York Times article profiling Senate Majority Leader and CBE member Chuck Schumer following his controversial speech on the Senate floor last week highlights the role Rabbi Timoner played as his rabbi.
in General
Rabbi Timoner argues that Franklin Foer’s recent Atlantic piece about the end of “the Golden Age of American Jews” tells a dangerous story. Rabbi Timoner writes: “The way to safety and freedom for American Jews cannot be backward. It must be forward, to the next wave of liberal democracy that includes us all.”
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Rabbi Timoner was interviewed in Politico about Senator Schumer’s speech.
in General
“Maybe it’s not just a nice thing to do to include everyone, but necessary for building something that qualifies as sacred.”
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“How do we stand in the midst of this moment with integrity?”
“This Shabbat offers us a chance to turn away from familiar mirrors, at least for a moment.”
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A group of community volunteers that prepares Jewish bodies for burial is featured in this JTA article, and includes testimony from Rabbi Timoner, one of the group’s founding members. You can hear Rabbi Timoner and learn more about the movement to elevate, normalize, and demystify Jewish end-of-life rituals by listening to this Exit Strategy podcast episode.
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March 3rd’s Israelis for Peace protest in Union Square was featured in this Forward article, including photographs of Rabbi Timoner lifting a bullhorn to say that although she supports Israel’s right to defend itself, “continued war and Israeli occupation of Gaza will be an unmitigated disaster” and “a bilateral ceasefire with hostage and prisoner release has never been more urgent.”
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Listen on CBE Spotify
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Listen on CBE Spotify
Read it here
Listen on CBE Spotify
Read it here
“It’s important for a lot of CBE members to care about both people — the lives of Israelis and Palestinians — and care about the rights and the future of those people,” Rabbi Timoner said in an interview about the post-October 7 moment.
in General
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Listen on CBE Spotify
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Rabbi Timoner calls us to draw near to one another across our differences.
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Rabbi Timoner discusses the recent antisemitism on college campuses.
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On the second day of Hanukkah, Rabbi Timoner considers the story of the Maccabees and the topic of powerlessness in relation to the Israel-Hamas war.
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How do we reconcile God’s presence with the horrors of the world?
Six weeks after the war, Rabbi Timoner challenges us to see the complexity and to break away from the binary of the current moment.
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What can Abraham’s response to Sarah’s death teach us about our own collective grief?
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Four weeks after the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas, Rabbi Kolin reflects on where things stand and finds wisdom in Abraham’s response to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
In his senior sermon, Rabbinic Intern Evan Traylor talks about God testing Abraham to speak out on behalf of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah and invites us to pass a similar test.
Rabbi Rachel Timoner speaks about the war between Israel and Hamas and the antisemitism we are feeling here in New York City.
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Rabbi Timoner adapted her sermon from Shabbat B’reishit into an op-ed for The New York Times. Read it here.
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On Shabbat B’reishit, Rabbi Timoner offers her response to the tragedy in Israel.
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Read it here.
Over the past few days, Rabbi Timoner was quoted in a number of news stories about the atrocity in Israel. Find them below:
- The New Yorker
- The New York Times
- The New York Times
- The Washington Post
- NY Daily News
- Jewish Insider
Last updated: 10/19/23.
in General
On Simchat Torah, Rabbi Timoner offers wisdom for the end of our Jewish holidays.
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in Sermons
Yasher koach to beloved CBE members Jules and Julianne Hirsh, who were featured in the newest episode of the podcast “This is Love”. Jules and Julianne have been members since 1967, and Jules is a two-term past president and CBE’s longest running baal tekiah (shofar sounder) for the High Holy Days. The episode features Julianne’s second bat mitzvah this past June, as well as wisdom from Rabbi Rachel Timoner on the importance of celebrating milestones during the second half of our lives. Listen here.
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On Sukkot, Rabbi Timoner discusses the harms of striving for perfection.
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After a dramatic storm, Rabbi Green explores rain on Sukkot.
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How can we respond to AI and emerging technology? Rabbi Timoner advocates for returning to the body.
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Read it here.
Yasher koach to Rabbi Kolin and the CBE Climate Team for representing us at the March to End Fossil Fuels. Watch an excerpt of Rabbi Kolin’s speech from Guardian News (2:32) or read her complete speech on Facebook.
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On Rosh Hashanah Day 1, Rabbi Timoner examines the state of the Jewish people.
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Read it here.
How do we celebrate the new year in a world that feels like it’s ending?
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Rabbi Rachel Timoner was one of six progressive New York rabbis profiled about her plans to incorporate the threats to Israeli democracy in her High Holy Days sermons. Read Haaretz‘s coverage .
in General
How long is a New Year new?
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The Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz have featured our free Israeli services with Rabbi Josh Weinberg. Find these services and others open to the community here.
in General
Rabbi Timoner tackles the difficult character of Pinchas.
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On Pride Shabbat, Rabbi Kolin discusses what the story of Korach and Pride might have in common.
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What can we learn from Korach and Moses today?
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Does God ever behave badly?
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Why is it important to ask for help?
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Rabbi Timoner explores the relationship between victim blaming and the belief that progress is linear.
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The Book of Leviticus opens with a silent aleph. Rabbi Timoner contemplates what this means.
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Rabbi Green tackles an age old question: Why do we pray?
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What is the most important thing for us to remember in the Torah? Rabbi Timoner discusses.
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Rabbi Kolin reflects on the Mishkan.
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Not Some Gift, Just You
Vayakhel-Pekudei
Rabbi Stephanie Kolin
Imagine that our ancestors are sitting in their tents near Mount Sinai. It still smells a little like burnt up Golden Calf, but life has moved on and they learn that it’s finally time to build this thing they’ve been hearing about. It’s called a Mishkan, and they’ve been told that everyone will help build it, everyone will contribute. So they look around their tent and in their pockets and wagons and baskets for what they can give. And the text tells us:
in Sermons
Rabbi Kolin finds a connection between the red heifer and current events.
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This week’s parashah tells us about dedicating a day of each week to rest. But for many of us today, rest can feel out of reach.
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After returning from the high school Yachad trip to Germany and Poland, Rabbi Timoner connects the figure of Amalek to Polish Holocaust erasure and recent Israeli pogroms in the West Bank.
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Ian and Rainen, thank you for your meaningful divrei Torah. I noticed that each of you were concerned with all of the rules and strictness of the parasha, but you also each focused on something pleasing or delightful to the senses: the sight of eternal light for the eyes and the smell of incense.
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