Recently, I was the guest on the Moral Courage podcast. The podcast is hosted by Rabbi Ari Averbach on behalf of the Harold M. Schulweis Institute. Rabbi Schulweis, z’l, was one of the greatest rabbis of the 20th century. Schulweis was the Sr. Rabbi of Valley Beth Shalom Congregation in Encino, California. VBS is of the largest Conservative synagogues in the world. He was a teacher, a philosopher and theologian, author, founder of Jewish World Watch. Rabbi Schulweis was known for his moral courage.
I had the priviiege to know and learn with Rabbi Schulweis during both my seminary years and as a long time colleague in Los Angeles. He was the author of many books including: Conscious: The Duty to Obey and the Duty to Disobey, Evil and the Morality of God, and For Those Who Can’t Believe: Overcoming the Obstacles to Faith
Just in time for LGBTQ Pride month, this podcast explores a host of ideas about the state of the Jewish people now, LGBTQ Jewish pride, my own LGBTQ Jewish story and discusses Rabbi Schulweis’ ground breaking sermon in 1992 on LGBTQ inclusion. I bring some of the back story to his research, and change of heart.
Here is the full podcast. I hope you give it a listen