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Teach your tongue to say ‘I don’t know.’ (Talmud Bavli, Berachot 4a)

This is one of my favorite teachings in the Talmud.   Our human nature never seems to change:   we hate to admit that we don’t know, that we’re not sure.   Some of us would rather lie to others and even to ourselves than admit that we don’t know something.   It’s as if there’s some deep-seated fear within us that being wrong is a terrible thing. I love not knowing!   When people come up to me and ask me a question about Judaism—or anything-- I’m happy to admit when I don’t know the answer.    I’m grateful.   That person has given me an opportunity to look something up and to learn.   I even love it when I say something incorrect or confused, and someone points out to me that I was wrong.   That’s the best of all!   I am delighted when life shows me that I was wrong.   How else can I find the Truth?   How else can I be ultimately right? There are those who believe that knowledge is power, and they’re right.   But the greatest knowledge, the greatest power of all is resting comforta...
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“We have Nothing to Fear”:  My speech on the future of Conservative Judaism at the USCJ Convention in Atlanta
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Change is Good -- What does that Mean?

If there’s any one subject that is on all of our minds these days and weeks, it’s “change.” Change is in the air. We’re eager for ‘change’ as our new president takes office. We’re eager for ‘change’ as we think about economic challenges. We’re eager for ‘change’ as we begin a new era at Adas Israel as well. People tell me that they feel a positive energy in the life of the synagogue, and that ‘sense of change’ is electrifying. This is all wonderful, but what exactly do we mean by ‘change’ anyway? It seems to me that the all-encompassing desire for change at our synagogue, and in the whole country is the feeling that we just want things to be different. It’s the feeling that the old ways have been spent, they’ve had their moment, they no longer work, and we need new ways of doing things in order to fix all the problems that the old ways have created. We all agree that “Change is Good,” but for many of us, there is an undercurrent of deep anxiety behind the desire for change. Our desire ...
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