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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In the Image of God

Dear Friends,
     
At the heart of the creation story in the Book of Genesis is a theological claim that is both Jewish and universal, and that is as profound and radical as it is basic: Every human being is created B’Tzelem Elohim, in the Image of God. There are many ways to understan…

Our Sacred Work: Life-Saving and Life-Affirming

Dear Friends,

This week, I traveled to NYC to attend the board meeting of the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) along with Jewish Federation leaders from across the country. For more than 100 years, JDC has been the 9-1-1 of the Jewish People, doing humanitarian work around the world. Our …

Links in the Chain

Dear Friends,

We are heading into the Shavuot holiday, one of the three pilgrimage festivals that also celebrates the giving and receiving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Tonight, we commemorate the covenantal moment that binds us together across communities and across time. We learn, we teach…

Heads Held High

Dear Friends,
     
With this week’s Torah reading, we conclude the book of Vayikra with the promise that if we walk in God’s ways, God will walk with us:

“I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be their slaves no more, who broke the bars of your yoke …

Greetings from Israel

Dear Friends,

This week was Israel’s Yom HaZikaron (Memorial Day) and Yom Ha'atzmaut (Independence Day). I’ve had the incredible opportunity to spend the week in Israel with over 300 members of our Greater Boston community as part of our historic Spark experience.

I wanted to share wit…