Zack Bodner
Be Grateful
Expressing gratitude is an essential element of Judaism, as well as most world religions. From reciting a blessing when one wakes up, to...
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Zack Bodner
Oct 8, 20211 min
Celebrate new beginnings
Every year, we complete the cycle of reading the entire Torah, celebrate a bit, and then start over from the beginning, and this was the...
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Zack Bodner
Oct 1, 20212 min
The power of storytelling
They don’t call the Jews “The People of the Book” for nuthin’! We are a storytelling people. From our biblical origin stories to our...
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Zack Bodner
Sep 24, 20211 min
Grateful for a roof over our heads
Sukkot is the Harvest Festival, a time to be grateful for our gifts and help those in our midst who are underprivileged, marginalized or...
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Zack Bodner
Sep 17, 20211 min
The Power of Apology
Yesterday we celebrated Yom Kippur, arguably the holiest day of the year for Jews all over the world. It’s a day that is meant to be...
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Zack Bodner
Sep 10, 20212 min
Self-reflection and casting away
Welcome to the Days of Awe. These are the ten days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur – between the Jewish new year and the day of...
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Zack Bodner
Aug 28, 20212 min
Reignite our love of learning
This was back-to-school week for many of our kids, including mine. As my front porch piled up with amazon packages filled with notebooks,...
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Zack Bodner
Aug 22, 20211 min
Be a mensch.
Can we talk? Can I over-share for a moment? The truth is, we are all more stressed-out than usual. We are all dealing with more worries...
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Zack Bodner
Aug 13, 20212 min
Justice! Justice!
In last week’s Torah portion, Shoftim, we read the famous words: “Justice, justice you shall pursue!” (Deut. 16:20) So it should be no...
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Zack Bodner
Aug 6, 20211 min
We must be adaptable
Jews have adapted over the centuries. We adapted our lifestyles to different leaders ruling over us inside and outside Israel. We adapted...
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Zack Bodner
Jul 14, 20212 min
Acknowledge our Grief.
Jewish tradition is very good at reminding us to embrace the painful memories, even as we are celebrating the joyful ones. For example,...
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Zack Bodner
Jun 24, 20212 min
Elu V'Elu. Embrace this and that.
I’m spending a few weeks with my family driving cross-country for our summer break. On a trip like this, the juxtaposition of life in...
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Zack Bodner
Jun 10, 20211 min
Honor your parents.
I’ll give you a head start: next weekend is Father’s Day. If you’re like me, you’ll probably receive some funny cards from your family,...
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Zack Bodner
Jun 4, 20212 min
Celebrate Life!
This week was graduation for many kids. Despite a year of massive disruption, they still plowed through and did what they needed to do so...
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Zack Bodner
May 26, 20211 min
We must give ourselves time to heal
This weekend we celebrate Memorial Day, our annual day to remember those men and women who fought and ultimately died for our country....
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Zack Bodner
May 13, 20211 min
Israel
Today is May 14. On this day 73 years ago, Israel declared its independence. And while I wish I were joyously celebrating with Israel...
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Zack Bodner
May 7, 20211 min
Honor and respect Shabbat
While I was working from home during COVID, my days began to look a lot like my nights. My weeks began blurring together. And suddenly my...
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Zack Bodner
Apr 29, 20212 min
Nurture your spiritual life
Today we celebrate the Jewish holiday of Lag B’Omer, the 33rd day of the Omer, which is the 49-day period of time between Passover (when...
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Zack Bodner
Apr 22, 20212 min
We must have humility.
Remember when Nietzsche said, “God is dead?” As humans, we think we conquered the world: we tamed all the other animals on the planet;...
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Zack Bodner
Apr 15, 20212 min
Inquire persistently
This week we celebrated Yom Ha’Atzmaut, Israeli Independence Day. It’s a day that marks a culminating moment after centuries of Jews from...
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Zack Bodner
Apr 10, 20211 min
We must always remember.
This week we commemorated Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Memorial Day. In our community, as in many Jewish communities around the world, Jews...
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Zack Bodner
Apr 3, 20211 min
All plagues end.
10. All plagues end. This weekend marked the end of Passover. After a seder to two, during which we told our exodus story with a series...
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Zack Bodner
Mar 25, 20212 min
Freedom is an essential value.
Freedom is an essential value. As we celebrate Passover this coming week, we remember and retell the story of the Jews’ exodus from...
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Zack Bodner
Mar 18, 20212 min
Time is sacred
7. Time is sacred. This week marks the one-year anniversary of COVID lockdown for me. Perhaps one of the greatest lessons I’ve learned...
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