Haverim / Friends,

Finally, after smoothing out the bumps, my blog-newsletter of offerings is up and ready to be viewed. If you like what you see, please subscribe. It’s free. Or if you want to help with the costs, you are welcome to contribute.

So, you ask, what can I find here?

Sermons: The Introduction to my book, Forty Years of Wondering: The High Holy Day Sermons of Rabbi Raymond A. Zwerin, plus a few of those 100 sermons (narrated by me) from each decade (1960s - 2000s). So far, there are a number of sermons posted (as well as the unnarrated Introduction), and more will be added every so often.

Life Stories: Unusual weddings, odd happenings at funerals, unexpected happenings while conducting worship services in synagogues during our travels abroad, miscellaneous happenings to our family (such as extortion by a wannabe member of the American Nazi Party), etc. There are over 40 such tales waiting to be posted. Some events are tweaked to protect the innocent; all names removed. Each story is unique. Rabbis don’t lead uneventful lives.

Spain: Rikki and I spent a number of weeks traveling through this unusual country by car looking for the Sephardic roots of our families, and came across much about the past and much about the present that is of interest. Over 20 cities were on our itinerary, each with its unique history, and each with its account of relationships between Jews and Muslims in southern Andalusia and with Catholics in the north -- Golden Ages to Inquisition. It’s part history, part travelogue, part novel. Seville was the first posting.

Teachings: I have given lectures around the country on numerous topics literally from A to Z ("Angels: What and Why?" ~ "Zodiac: A Jewish Calendar?"), and have taught Melton and OLLI courses for decades on countless subjects. The first lectures of a course called “Controversies in Judaism” are posted. Each is a long read, but there is usually a Summary if you’re a short reader.

More: Ultimately, I expect to post my novels (published and unpublished), a history of our Jewish educational book company, ARE Publishing, Inc., and along the way some thoughts, concerns, possibilities, projects, responses to questions, you get the idea. Will there be interviews? Not now, or as Franz Rosenzweig might have said, not yet.

The blog is called “Beyond Belief.” Why? Because faith without reason can be blind to reality, leading often to mindless acts, and passing responsibility on to another — a leader or a higher being or authority. On the other hand, reason without faith can be empty — being without wonder.

So, welcome to my new blog-newsletter. If you found that it opened in a random fashion, it will behave immediately, i.e., organize itself into columns, if you click on the bold Beyond Belief header. When you subscribe, you’ll automatically receive each new posting by email or you can read all postings anytime in this blog. Drop me a note if you need help with the site (rebbez@aol.com) or have comments. Thanks to all who have been nudging me for years to do this, and thanks in advance to any who might encourage me to continue to do it ... or not.

Ray Zwerin, Rabbi Emeritus

Temple Sinai, Denver

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