Rabbi Linda Henry Goodman is a member of the North American Board of WRJ, and co-chair of WRJ’s Israel Education Committee. She is the Rabbi Emerita of Union Temple of Brooklyn, and a member of the CCAR and WRN. She was the first woman to serve as President of the New York Board of Rabbis and is a Senior Rabbinic Fellow of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. She lives in Garden City, NY.
It is often said that we learn by example. We watch our elders – parents and grandparents, extended family members, teachers, public figures, and other exemplars in our lives–and try to emulate them. Sometimes though, when these exemplars engage in negative behavior, hopefully we will be astute enough to learn from them by negative example. We and those who come after us need not doom ourselves to repeating the mistakes and bad behavior of generations past. All of us have the power to improve–to do better. This is a core value and belief of Jewish life.
We are indebted to Rabbi Carole Balin, Ph.D., for her beautiful article regarding Belle Fligelman Winestine, z”l, and her activism for women’s suffrage. I can think of no more fitting way time to salute another amazing Jewish woman who, though probably less
We read in Pirkei Avot, “Be among the disciples of Aaron – seek peace and pursue it.” One of our highest aspirations as Jews is to establish peace within our homes, within our communities, and in our world. Sh’lom Bayit – peace in the home – is a core value of