For the Love of Judaism

The fourth season of For the Love of Judaism kicks off with a special episode in honor of the 23rd anniversary of September 11th, 2001. In this episode, Rabbi Pont interviews retired New York City firefighter Dave Smentkowski whose experiences on 9/11 and in the days and years that followed will give chills to all of us as we remember tha fateful day.

It has been an amazing third season of For the Love of Judaism. To send us off into the summer Rabbi Pont shares two recent sermons, one about his trip to the Nova Festival Exhibit in New York and the other about Father's Day and the many ways fathers impact our lives. Two very different sermons but both with inspiration to carry us through to September.

Lots of kids are into sports but few get to live out their dreams as an NFL beat reporter for ESPN. This week's guest, New York Giants beat reporter Jordan Raanan, is one of those lucky few. Don't miss this far reaching conversation about what it is like to travel the country with an NFL team, the importance of relationships in the pursuit of your dreams, and what Jordan thinks is coming down the road for NFL fandom. 

Last month Rabbi Pont's daughter Emma graduated from the University of Michigan School of Nursing. As was reported across many news outlets, U of M's graduation ceremony was one of many that was disrupted by protestors.  

A replay of a recent sermon, this episode features Rabbi Pont as he shares his experience in Ann Arbor from the perspective of a proud father and a proud Zionist.

On this Yom HaShoah, the Day of Remembrance,  we recall the six million who died at the hands of the Nazis. Among them was Greta Grunberg, a mother of two young boys who befriended a young German girl named Elizabeth. Elizabeth and Greta lived in the same building, had breakfast together nearly every day and lit Shabbat candles, even after it was made illegal by the Nazis.

Some 82 years after Greta was deported from Germany, Elizabeth Umlandt, now 88 years old, remembers her friend and still holds on to the picture of Greta and her husband in hopes that their descendants will come and claim the picture the way Greta wanted. 

What happens when a working single mom from D.C. has the opportunity to live out her dream in the midst of a pandemic? She buys a farm in rural North Carolina!

That's the story of Wendy Rhein, owner of Chutzpah Hollow, a self-made homesteader who is part of a growing movement of Jewish farmers. This week Wendy took some time to chat with Rabbi Pont about how she came to move her family from the life they knew to the life she'd dreamed of in 2021, when the whole world was changing around her.

Don't miss this fascinating conversation.

On Yom Kippur 2023 Rabbi Pont delivered a sermon commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War. In late September, it was widely viewed as one of the worst wars that Israel has had to fight in its 75 year history. We had no idea that the Jewish world was about to be changed forever.

This week you can listen to this same sermon, knowing now what would come to be just two weeks after Yom Kippur.

Ever wonder how the Conservative movement came to allow driving to Synagogue on Shabbat? Or whether it feels differently about driving electric cars on Shabbat? Or how it was decided that a livestreamed minyan was OK during the COVID-19 pandemic?

This week Rabbi Pont talks to Rabbi David Fine of Ridgewood, New Jersey who sits on the Halacha Committee for the Rabbinical Assembly and has been a part of many of the recent decisions that shape our movement. 

Don't miss this fascinating conversation about the intricate process for deciding was is and is not acceptable in the ever-changing world of Conservative Judaism.

In the early morning hours of October 7th, Hamas stormed Kibbutz Holit, a small kibbutz in southern Israel. As the terrorists went house to house, Adi Kaploun Vital hid with her two small children while her father hid two houses away. Adi’s actions on that fateful morning saved the lives of her father and her children, Sadly, Adi was murdered by Hamas in her shelter. In the aftermath, Adi's parents, Jacqui and Yaron Vital are on a mission to tell their daughter’s story and raise awareness to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again.

On February 25th, the Marlboro Jewish Center community had the opportunity to hear Adi's story. This episode is a replay of that heart wrenching yet inspiring event.

To contribute to the Adi Kaploun-Vital Memorial Fund visit: https://www.geerz.site/en/project/adi-kaploun-vital-memorial-fund/.

Part of becoming a Bar or Bat Mitzvah at Marlboro Jewish Center is doing an act of chesed, or kindness, for those less fortunate than you are. Every year, our 7th graders find new and exciting projects that are special to them and use those projects to give back to their community.  

This week Rabbi Pont gave our 7th graders the chance to tell you, the For the Love of Judaism audience, about their projects.