Under the Kippah • Thoughts from the Jewish Chaplain

I’ve been thinking this week about the Torah of new beginnings. It’s a new semester, a new beginning for all of you and all of your professors. And tonight marks a new beginning for me, too, the beginning of a new chapter for me at Williams. The poet Jason Shinder teaches, “Whatever gets in the way of

Cantor Bob Scherr served as Jewish chaplain to Williams College for fourteen years. During many of those years I knew him as one of my Wednesday morning hevruta (text-study-friendship) partners at the coffee shop on Spring Street. As a study partner he is wise, thoughtful, and kind. I know that he brought those same qualities in abundance to his

Shalom Chaverim: I hope that vacation has brought you rest and renewal, and that wherever you are, you are experiencing some “spring” in your break.  Much of the snow has melted in Williamstown, but no one will confuse us with Florida these days. On the threshold of Pesach, I’ve been thinking about the maror—the bitter herb—at the seder.  After

Chaverim: There is a lot to be afraid of in the world today.  It seems every day we pick up a newspaper (uh…at least those of us who still read paper papers) to see that people are under attack simply for being who they are.  Christians are rounded up as minority citizens, Muslim women are attacked because

Shalom Chaverim: Events of the world have presented us another challenge this week. When three young Muslim people were murdered in Charlotte, NC, as our stomachs turned, we wondered , Is this yet another hate crime? While we don’t know the details of motivation, we know that the innocent lives that were lost were three

Hanuka has many meanings for many people.  For some, it’s all about the latkes; for others, it’s all about candles and songs from childhood.  We don’t usually tell children the details about this tense chapter in Jewish history, when the pro-Hellenists and the anti-Hellenists engaged in a civil war that threatened Jewish survival. We live in a world

My Friends: Probably like you, my heart ached this week when I heard that senseless violence had struck innocent people at prayer.  I kept thinking that a tallit often feels to me like a uniform, that helps keep me in focus, that protects me from wandering attention.  The Torah tells us that the fringes protect us from wandering after false

How to make this the most meaningful Yom Kippur ever! NOTE:  KOL NIDRE SERVICES BEGIN AT 6:15 Why do we fast?  The Torah tells us, v’initem et nafshotechem—repress your instincts.  We often eat without thinking.  So we take one day and say, “You know what?  If I can go one day in my life without

Chaverim (Friends): A High Holy Days midrash tells of a prince who runs away after an argument with his parents. After many years, scouts of the anguished king and queen find their son, now a peasant in a far corner of the kingdom.  He says that he has forgotten how to be a prince, and lacks