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Read Rabbi Knopf’s Recent Posts
- Why Are You Here? — Rosh Hashanah 5783 September 28, 2022
- Shabbat for Shabbat’s Sake: Parashat Sh’lakh Lekha 5782 June 25, 2022
- Embrace the Wilderness: Parashat Beha’alotekha 5782 June 21, 2022
- Message to the Class of 2022 June 20, 2022
- Punk’s Not Dead, It’s Jewish: Shavuot 5782 June 7, 2022
Tag Archives: equality
Blessings Are Not a Finite Resource: Parashat Toldot 5782
The first half of the 20th century heralded a building boom of public swimming pools in the US. These were not dinky little DIY neighborhood projects. Rather, communities all over the country were building grand, resort-style, pools, the kind that … Continue reading
Listen to Her Voice!
Picture, if you will, a world of rigid hierarchies, where men control women’s lives, and women are used for their bodies. Perhaps it sounds like I am describing The Handmaid’s Tale, the classic dystopian novel by Margaret Atwood that was … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged #MeToo, culture, current-events, equality, feminism, God, justice, personal, politics, religion, social justice, society, women
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Virginia House of Delegates Invocation, February 23, 2018
Mekor ha-hayyim, somkeh noflim, matir asurim— Champion of the downtrodden, we ask that, today and every day, You show our leaders how to walk Your paths: Enable them to see Your image in all people, eradicating all forms of bigotry … Continue reading
Posted in Public Statements, Reflections
Tagged culture, current-events, equality, Gun Control, Guns, health, healthcare, justice, peace, politics, prayer, religion, social justice, society
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Inauguration Benediction
I was honored to have been invited to deliver the benediction at the Inauguration Ceremonies for Governor Ralph Northam, Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, and Attorney General Mark Herring at the Virginia State Capitol, January 13, 2018. Below is the text … Continue reading
Posted in Public Statements, Sermons, Uncategorized
Tagged American Judaism, community, culture, current-events, equality, ethics, faith, history, human-rights, inclusion, Judaism, justice, peace, politics, religion, social justice, society
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Statement about the President’s Islamophobic Tweets
Tuesday morning, President Trump retweeted several outrageous (and, reports indicate, phony) Islamophobic videos from a fringe British ultranationalist group. The outburst represents a continuation of a disturbing pattern. President Trump routinely targets and vilifies Muslims. The pattern seems to intensify … Continue reading
Posted in Public Statements, Reflections
Tagged American Judaism, community, equality, ethics, fear, God, human-rights, Islam, Islamophobia, Jewish thought, Judaism, justice, leadership, middle-east, Muslim-Jewish relations, peace, politics, race, racism, religion, social justice, theology, Torah, Trump
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Our Kids – Yom Kippur 5776/2015
They have become the most powerful symbols of the past year. But before they were symbols, they were people. Early each morning, sometimes before sunrise, 3 year-old Aylan would sneak quietly out of his bed, shuffle softly against the stone … Continue reading
Posted in Sermons
Tagged #blacklivesmatter, equality, ethics, exodus, God, justice, our kids, race, racism, refugee crisis, social justice, syria
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For the Charleston Nine
Originally delivered at Temple Beth-El, Richmond, Virginia (June 19-20, 2015) As most of you have recognized by now, I typically do not write out my sermons or deliver them from prepared notes. I do that for many reasons, chief among … Continue reading
Posted in Reflections, Sermons
Tagged charleston, current-events, deuteronomy, equality, ethics, God, justice, race, social justice
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The Legal Responsibility of Jewish Hotel Patrons
Over the past few years, I had been trying to pass a teshuvah (Jewish legal opinion) in the Conservative Movement’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards arguing that Jewish law insists we must not patronize businesses that abuse their workers. The paper … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Conservative Judaism, current-events, equality, ethics, halakhah, Jewish law, justice, social justice
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2014: The year of human dignity
When we review the top stories of 2013, we find that it was a mixed year on the human dignity front: Expanded rights for gays and lesbians in the United States; a new pope’s deeds of compassion and love; and a celebration of … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged compassion, equality, ethics, GLBT, human dignity, justice, social justice, special needs
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Including the Mixed Multitude – 30 Days of Liberation, Day 14
The Bible remarks that a “mixed multitude” left Egypt with the Children of Israel, a group that, according to our rabbis, included Egyptians and other non-Israelites who were moved to join the freed slaves. This multitude of aliens was absorbed … Continue reading
Posted in 30 Days of Liberation, Reflections
Tagged equality, ethics, holidays, inclusion, Jewish People, Judaism, justice, Passover, Pesah, religion, society, Torah, wisdom
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Rabbi Michael Rose Knopf 