A Message from Marc

Marc's Message

Marc Baker headshot
CJP's President and CEO, Rabbi Marc Baker, writes and teaches about leadership, community, and civic life, bringing the voice of Jewish tradition to contemporary issues.

 

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Beginning Again

Dear Friends, 

Last week was an emotional milestone for my family: My wife and I dropped off our oldest son at college for the first time. It was an experience filled with many emotions, including sadness about letting go and excitement about the possibilities that lie ahead.

I’ll never…

Remembering to Grieve

Dear Friends,  

To be human is to experience loss and pain. 

The question, according to the writer Parker Palmer, is not whether our hearts will break, but rather how they will break. 

This Sunday is the saddest day of the year on the Jewish calendar. Tisha B’Av commemorates the des…

Creation and Tikkun

Dear Friends,
  
We are heading into the Fourth of July weekend with so many reminders of the brokenness of our country and our world. This year, as we celebrate the birth of this nation and the anniversary of our freedom and independence, we also see examples of the fragility of our democ…

Sounding the Trumpets

Dear Friends,  

In this week’s Torah portion, God instructs Moses to make two silver trumpets that will be blown to “summon the congregation and announce the departure of the camps.” These trumpets had dual purposes: to gather and mobilize. In war, they were a call to action and def…

Coming Home

Dear Friends, 

My late father, of blessed memory, was not a learned Jew nor what I would call a spiritual or intellectual “seeker.” He strove to live a values-driven life of integrity and was fiercely committed to family and community. While he and my mother gave me extraordinary oppor…