Author Archives: joshuarabin

Everything I learned about working with teens I first learned from Ordinary People. As USY completes a summer with teens traveling across North America, Europe, and Israel, I decided to rewatch Ordinary People for the hundredth time and go back into the literary … Continue reading →

I have a weird relationship with people calling me “rabbi.” What does this have to do with Parashat Korah? Find out by reading my D’var Torah published by the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) by clicking on this link.

After USY International Convention was canceled due to the omicron variant, I needed to find some comfort in Torah. Here are my thoughts on this week’s parasha and the pedagogy of hope on my long-dormant blog at The Times of … Continue reading →

On July 1, 2021, membership in USY will be no more. After a long hiatus, here’s my article in eJewishPhilanthropy about why that’s awesome, and what it means to take a wrecking ball to an iconic practice.

A report from The Council on Foreign Relations states “rising numbers of sick people, growing unemployment, increased anxiety and financial stress, and a scarcity of community resources have set the stage for an exacerbated domestic violence crisis around the world.” … Continue reading →

I am a somewhat regular contributor to eJewishPhilanthropy, and wanted for some time to write a piece on racism and white privilege. And yet I struggled for months to write a piece I felt comfortable with because of one roadblock: my … Continue reading →

Tomorrow night, I will be a guest on Facebook Live sponsored by JewishLIVE with Rabbi Avi Finegold and Professor Roberta (Bobbi) Kwall, as we discuss Bobbi’s new book Remix Judaism.   You can RSVP for the event here; I hope that you … Continue reading →

A few weeks ago, USY cancelled our summer programs.  And yet one of the most important things people can do in times of acute stress is express hakarat ha-tov, gratitude, and these days I find myself with an abundance of gratitude. … Continue reading →

Breaking a teenager’s heart always breaks my heart.   And, in a time of COVID-19, it’s not going to get easier any time soon.   Today, eJewishPhilanthropy published a letter I wrote to USYers and all teenagers who no longer have … Continue reading →

Critiquing social media is chic, yet I believe that the conventional wisdom about social media lets us off the hook too easily and denies us agency.   This week, I wrote a guest Dvar Torah for the Jewish Theological Seminary … Continue reading →