Rabbi Mike Rothbaum
@ravmike
Chutzpah, Torah, Manual Transmission. Husband of Anthony. Man rabbi. Lions, Mets fan. Loyal or masochist? he.him
Something you can do RIGHT NOW before Shabbos: 350,000 Haitian TPS holders are facing widespread family separation. @haitianbridge.bsky.social — "S. 4814 will extend Haitian TPS for the next three years... call your senator and urge them to VOTE YES." Here in CA, Schiff is STILL not a cosponsor.
On off-Shabbat mornings, I go to other shuls. I notice that sometimes they pray the prayer for our country, and for Israel, but skip the prayer for peace. Curious... does your shul include the prayer for peace? If not, have you asked your rabbi about it?
Our sages taught about makhloket l'Shem Shamayim, "argument for the sake of heaven." Disagreements with principle are kosher. Insincere conversation — with the intention of weaponizing your adversary's words against them — is treyf.
Hey, pass it on! AIPAC is not a Jewish organization! Thanks for @bendthearc.bsky.social for this vital information.
This is 100% the fault of the racist Netanyahu government. Not the mayor of New York, or any other city. The Jewish world is facing a moral crisis, and our institutional leaders are hell-bent on focusing our attention everywhere else but where it belongs.
I understand that LeBron's deal with the Sixers hinged on a clause allowing Bronny to be the guy who wears the Gritty suit.
In or near San Diego? Join Congregation Dor Hadash of San Diego, @seanelorivera.bsky.social, and our partners for a Tisha B'Av memorial for the victims of ICE brutality, at the Schwartz Federal Building, Thursday at 10:30. May we support each other in our grief, and may it lead us to action.
I know not to expect better — but the sight of this preening twit bumbling around the World Cup stage — when clearly nobody wants him there — while ICE victims' blood flows in the streets — and another soldier got killed in Iran — not to mention the dead of Iran and Lebanon — is beyond vile.
“The two of them were in the field and, behold, Abel was killed in a Cain-involved attack.” (Genesis 4:67)
It’s shameful how the only way the press can say it is if they can say someone else said it.
Pictured: my great Aunt Rose and her co-workers liberated from misery and enjoying a fun explosion of freedom in a loud airless rockin’ sweatshop. (Even more freedom and fun will be experienced by those who lose their jobs to serve capitalism’s bitchin’ profit motive.)
I would like to sincerely apologize to everyone rooting for Mexico, as I was at the Spring Valley Swap Meet this afternoon and bought a $10 Mexico shirt which I'm wearing, and my sports luck is clearly affecting their defense. I'm so sorry.
Now that this SCOTUS has completed another brutal term, note that Thomas and Alito are the oldest members of this court. Remember that when you have to decide whether you’ll vote for the next Democratic presidential nominee — even if they don’t check off every box on the progressive wish list.
You can be mad about insults against AIPAC, and try to parse out whether they were antisemitic or not, but there's one person I heard conflate Israel with "the Jews," and it was Jesse Watters on FOX, not Mamdani.
Pictured: Rabbinical school alumni of HUC NY (left), and HUC LA (right)
Hey NYT, some of us are fans of the Detroit Lions, who last won it all in Dec 1957, when the #1 song was "April Love" by Pat Boone, and you're saying that Carolina fans' waiting 20 years between Cup wins constitutes a "drought"? If that's a drought, Lions fans live in the driest part of the Sahara.
What better way for New York to say eff you to Trump than to offer up a game-winner from a Nigerian-British immigrant. Here's to you, OG.
US prez to Israeli PM: "You're fucking crazy. You'd be in prison if it weren't for me. I'm saving your ass. "Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this." Ladies and gentlemen, I present: Donald Trump, Truth-teller
Reminders: Helping poor folks with basic sustenance is not “charity.” Fair wages are not “generous.” These are sacred acts of justice that are essential elements of a holy economy.
So… an episode about the Battle of Blair Mountain, an uprising of 10,000 coal workers, features cover “art” that includes gibberish on top of a misspelling of both “battle” and “mountain,” and completely leaves out “Blair.” Takes some real chutzpah to tell AI to make a podcast about worker justice.
This is probably easier than I think, but is there someone who can help me create a general template so that I can turn text into a social media template? See example below.
Legacy Jewish orgs continue to scold folks for criticizing a craven Netanyahu government. At the same time, they have remained silent as the US government pardoned actual Nazis. Which has paved the way for them to claim “damages.” Is this the biggest failure of a Jewish community in history?
In 2012, I shared a piece on @wamc.org about war, torture, and regret. If even half the accusations of rape in Israel are true, it's not a time for PR. It's a pollution of God's name that demands a reckoning. If you believe at all in a God of justice, there's no other answer. My piece is below.
Here I am just minding my own business watching a little playoff basketball only to discover that Isiah Thomas and Meshell Ndegeocello have merged into one intrepid entity.