Two Saturdays ago, I joined my fellow congregants at our synagogue to pray, socialize, and enjoy each other’s company. It is a true community experience. At the same hour, a hate-filled man armed with an assault rifle and three handguns entered the Tree of Life synagogue building in Pittsburgh and heinously murdered eleven worshippers. I […]

At the National Human Services Assembly, we are focused on achieving a culture of equity in our organization and throughout the human service sector. We understand that the recognition and inclusion of all individuals as an asset is a fundamental building block to being a truly excellent organization. This same recognition is necessary to ensure […]

This week, I attended the Equity in the Center Summit in Baltimore. In the midst of the challenging speakers and workshops, a few themes began to emerge for me. First, the work of racial justice is not easy. We in the United States have a difficult history of racial injustice which continues to permeate our […]

I thought I knew the story. Since I was a child, I had heard it, read it, seen it on film. But, there is nothing as powerful as place. As being there. A guide who showed us the city said that a nickname for Amsterdam is “Mokum,” from the Hebrew “Makom,” which means place. How […]

This is a message that I wrote last year, but for many reasons it seems even more appropriate this year – with so much denial around us and very little actual seeking of forgiveness. Yom Kippur this year begins on September 18). There seems to be an increasing amount of rhetoric these days in all […]