Rabbi Cy’s Blog

At the end of World War II and as the depth and breadth of the Shoah was coming to light, our Jewish world was devastated.  Even with all the news coming out of Europe about the extermination of the Jews, each new day brought shed more light on the atrocities committed. Our educational institutions tried…

Rabbi Stanway: Thoughts on Israel Just a few weeks ago, I came back from the Central Conference of American Rabbis convention that took place in Israel.  It was a trip unlike any of the other dozen or so trips I have taken. There was a mood in the country of anger by many (not all)…

  The events of yesterday are evoking responses throughout the broad spectrum of political opinion. There is so much noise out there that it hurts. We all know what we saw. And what we saw was a burning hatred pitting one American against another. It seems that hating our fellow American has become a kind…

While Standing (Six Feet Apart) on One Foot June 22, 2020   I love science. Always have. When I was in school, I couldn’t wait for science class. Biology mesmerized me. Physics tried to satisfy the many ‘whys’ that danced around in my head. And chemistry – oy gevalt – the hardest of all the…

While Standing (Six Feet Apart) on One Foot June 8, 2020 As my congregants will tell you and for which they jokingly ridicule me, I am not a sports fan. Of course I have been to sporting events and enjoyed them – especially hockey. But I could not name the players on any team, its…

While Standing (Six Feet Apart) on One Leg May 28, 2020 The Jewish festival of Shavuot begins this evening. In case you are unfamiliar with the holiday, it lands on the 50th day after Passover begins. It is the time of the first harvest, the time of the giving of the Torah, and the season…

While Standing (Six Feet Apart) On One Leg May 21, 2020 I went to the race track once and bet on a horse. No, really, I did.  In fact, I learned to read the racesheet, compared the track conditions to the track conditions the horses were used to running in, looked for other characteristics and…

While Standing (Six Feet Apart) On One Leg May 18, 2020 Of all the Zoom conferences I had in the past two months, I had a most unusual one last night with my colleagues from Camp Erin. Camp Erin, if you don’t know, is a nation camp movement and my local camp a 2 day…

While Standing (Six Feet Apart) on One Foot May 6, 2020 Much to Stella’s chagrin, I have totally taken over my corner of the office with computers and audio equipment. As all of us are finding out, working from home takes up a lot of space. It is but one of the inconveniences of this…