“If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything,” said Alexander Hamilton. Every year that we stand before God to give an accounting for the previous year, we also make a promise for the following year. But what do we stand for? Let us pose a simple question: Did we fulfill our obligations in respect [...]

Reflecting on my seven years at Tifereth Israel, it has been a dance. The shul family has been with each other in sorrow and in joy, and at all the times in between. I acknowledge how appreciative I am to have been so warmly embraced. Thank you so much for making me part of your [...]

We tend to attribute the fatherhood of modern capitalism to Adam Smith, who wrote The Wealth of Nations originally as a mere guidebook. In essence, Adam Smith’s philosophy was to let the markets regulate themselves or, as we commonly refer to this idea, to perpetuate a free economy. My finance professor back in business school, Dr. [...]

In a few days, it will be seven years since I began serving as the rabbi of Congregation Tifereth Israel. When I decided to make the change from corporate to the rabbinate, I did it not because I didn’t enjoy the work I was doing; on the contrary, it was gratifying in many ways. I did [...]

Last Wednesday evening at Christie's in New York, a 1986 sculpture by Jeff Koons, “The Rabbit,” sold for $91 million. A playful, stainless steel, faceless rabbit, just over three feet tall, which has not been publicly exhibited for more than 30 years, became the most expensive work by a living artist ever to sell at auction. Christie's had described the sculpture as “…one [...]