D'var Torah by Rabbi Harold Kravitz
Yom Kippur—September 19, 2018

One of the difficult things we have been confronting the last few years, in almost daily revelations, have been public accusations against powerful men accused of crossing boundaries of sexual propriety. Though not a new development, these aggressions are finally receiving the attention they deserve in the Movement that has been named (hashtag) #MeToo. I want us to take time to reflect on this disturbing phenomenon for the lessons it teaches that are central to the theme of Yom Kippur. The principles of repentance, forgiveness, and atonement can guides us here, whether applied on the grand scale of #MeToo, or to less dramatic, but still important instances of how we relate to each other. 

D'var Torah by Rabbi Harold J. Kravitz
Rosh Hashanah, Day 1—September 10, 2018

The last year and a half has been an emotional roller coaster for our family.

I lost my mom Mildred last year and was saying Kaddish until May. In late June Cindy’s dad Irv died, so this year she is saying Kaddish. It is a lot to lose two parents in a short time. As we reflect on these losses, we are both deeply grateful for the support we received from our community, both the community here at Adath and the community we have with friends and colleagues that extends far beyond MN. We are so thankful for the many contributions, the notes of support, the meals, all kinds of people who checked in on us.

The board of MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger and a group of rabbis from around the country were on Capitol Hill Wednesday lobbying against the House farm bill on the grounds that the nutrition title will make some Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants lose benefits while not helping needy military families get food they need.

For several years, MAZON has pointed out that counting a service member’s Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) as income when determining eligibility for federal nutrition assistance keeps needy families from qualifying for SNAP and said that excluding the BAH would help thousands of low-income military families put food on the table.

The House farm bill contains a provision that excludes the first $500 of a service member’s BAH from counting as income for SNAP eligibility determination, but MAZON maintains that amount is too low to make much of a difference.

After meeting for the past three years, the Downtown Study Group—led by Rabbi Harold Kravitz—is finishing up the topic of Suffering, and expect to end their discussions on this topic at their February 6th session.

D'var Torah by Rabbi Harold J. Kravitz
on Yom Kippur Day 5778
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An incident occurred at this very location many years ago. It happened early in my career when I was responsible for running the Kallah program of retreats for Adath’s young teens. As many of you know, before this building was built, this property was the original location of our Kallah retreat center. The Kallah Center space was shared by our Gan Shelanu Nursery School. One weekend we were here for a Shabbat Weekend and all appeared to have gone well, until I got to work on Monday morning. I heard from Susie Chalom, who was the Gan director, that some school equipment had been damaged over the weekend. There was no doubt that kids attending the Kallah retreat were responsible.

by Rabbi Harold J Kravitz,
Rosh Hashanah Day 1 Sermon,  5778 

Earlier I mentioned that this year marks the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, which set into motion the creation of the State of Israel, as well as the 50th anniversary of the Six Day War that has brought Israel to the challenging place in which she finds herself. And of course this coming May will mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the State. There is one other less well known anniversary being observed this year that I think our synagogue also has good reason to acknowledge. In 2018 the Masorti Movement in Israel will be celebrating 40 years since it was successfully launched through efforts credited to Rabbi Michael Graetz, who for decades served as rabbi of our sister synagogue Magen Avraham in Omer. 

​by Rabbi Harold J. Kravitz
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This April celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Jewish Welfare Board (JWB) an organization founded in 1917, during World War I, to support Jews serving in the U.S. military. The JWB continues to provide rabbis of all Movements to serve as military chaplains and supplies the kinds of items that provide religious and general support to Jews serving in our military such as prayer books, Bibles, mezuzot, etc.