Marc Gellman

As this issue goes to press, the result of the November election is unknown. But whatever the outcome, the nomination of Joseph I. Lieberman is a moment of truth for American Jews. The following essay was originally given as a sermon by Rabbi Gellman on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. Even if . . . . Continue Reading »

In Genesis 37:15 we read the story of how Joseph arrived in the town of Shechem in search of his brothers and his father’s flocks that they were pasturing. Joseph had been sent by his father Jacob to Shechem, not just to bring back word about his sheep and goats, but, primarily, to give Joseph a . . . . Continue Reading »

An angel came to me and told me that all the great questions are short. There are more guarded ways of saying this, but that is the way it happened. I asked the angel, “What do you mean, all the great questions are short?” and the angel said, “Look in the Torah.” That was it.Now every year, . . . . Continue Reading »

Demons surface. For most people, demons surface in nightmares, but for us, for Jews, demons seem to surface in history. Pharaoh, Amalek, Nebuchadnezzar, Titus, Torquemada, Chmielnitsky, and Hitler were real demons. They killed real Jews. The night demons can be forgotten, but not the demons that . . . . Continue Reading »