Rabbi Robert Scheinberg's page

No one would ever think of simply not inviting him. And to his credit, he always shows up, no matter how much complaining he may do once he has arrived. I’m talking, of course, of one of the most important mythical personalities of the Jewish holiday cycle.  He loves to push our buttons. But you couldn’t imagine a Passover seder without him and his provocative questions.  And in fact, I am quite confident that he is here in the synagogue today - and how we decide to relate to him will have a dramatic effect on the Jewish future. I’m speaking, of course, of the רשע - the Wicked Son, one of the four sons described by the Passover Haggadah. I know some of you are thinking:  is the rabbi confused?  I knew Rosh HaShanah is early this year, but is Passover also early this year?! Quite THIS early?!   (Actually, this is not the first time that I have discussed Passover during a Rosh haShanah sermon. Some of you may remember several years ago when sho...

How can a physics experiment from the 1930's help us prepare for the new year? Welcome to the most unusually timed Jewish year that many of us will ever experience!  If you are here, that means that you did something a little unusual - you made your plans for Rosh HaShanah even before Labor Day Weekend.  This year, we can expect Yom Kippur to fall in the first half of September, Sukkot and Simhat Torah will be over before the end of September, and Hanukkah will start on Thanksgiving Eve.   It just seems like everything is happening much sooner than we’re accustomed to.  I know I’ve been told that time speeds up as you get older, but this is ridiculous. I’m not the first person to notice this.  The world’s very best writer about sports ever -- the late Bart Giamatti, president of Yale University and then Major League Baseball Commissioner, once wrote:  “Somehow, the summer seemed to slip by faster this time. Maybe it wasn’t this summer, but ...