December 22, 2014

This story has three parts: It’s just a mezuzah. No big deal. Do rabbis really do this junk? Can a MacBook be an instrument of God? Let’s begin… It’s just a mezuzah. No big deal. I’ve been asked to officiate the affixing of a mezuzah to the doorpost of a woman’s home.* To be honest, there is not much of a reason to have a rabbi participate in this. Anyone with a home and a mezuzah can do this. It’s... Read more

December 16, 2014

I don’t watch a lot of reality TV. But recently, I have come to really appreciate The Profit, a CNBC show where serial entrepreneur Marcus Lemonis goes into struggling businesses, invests in them, and isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty in the process. What I like the most about Lemonis is that his business savvy has little to do with making money, but more about understanding the interaction between people in an organization, what they do all day, and... Read more

November 26, 2014

In Judaism, we have a custom of saying three, daily prayers: morning, afternoon and evening. As a progressive Jew, I have taken this to mean that at different times in the day, we have to pause to reflect on the fact that, thank God, we are still here and are able to live fully in this moment. I was never a morning person until recently. I had spent my entire life staying up late, hacking away on my computer, reading,... Read more

November 12, 2014

Hi, my name is Patrick, and as you can tell from the title of this blog (thanks Patheos for the chance to be here!) I am a rabbi with tattoos. Generally speaking, when someone sees my tattoos and finds out I’m a rabbi, it elicits one or more of the following questions: Doesn’t it say somewhere that you’re not supposed to do that? You can’t get buried in a Jewish cemetery! Haven’t you heard of the Holocaust? My replies are... Read more


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