Rabbi Michael Pont, Senior Rabbi at Marlboro Jewish Center, shares his message of love, inspiration and Torah.
In what will likely be our season finale, Rabbi Pont offers teachings that he spoke about to the congregation at Marlboro Jewish Center on recent Shabbat mornings. Three short sermons about food from a Shiva house, Mother's Day and the recent horrifying murders of two Israeli embassy workers.
When we teach our children about the Holocaust, it is largely from the perspective of those who survived. But what about the million or more Jews who lived in communities that were completely destroyed. Thus began the quest of this week's guest, Julie Brill, whose family was from Belgrade, Serbia one of those places whose entire Jewish community was destroyed in the early days of the War. Julie details her family's history, and her journey to memorialize all those who died in Belgrade, in her ne...
As we get ready for Passover, here are a couple of teachings that Rabbi Pont recently offered to his congregation at Marlboro Jewish Center!
We all know that what it means to be a Jew has changed since October 7th, 2023. From the most observant to the least, Jewish life is different than it was before. In his new book, For Such a Time as This , Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove of Park Avenue Synagogue offers a poignant explanation of what it means to be Jewish today. This week, Rabbi Cosgrove joins his friend of thirty years, Rabbi Pont, for a meaningful conversation about this, about searching for our Esther moment in modern times, and about w...
In was April, 2008. A small group of tired, homesick campaign staffers are quickly trying to put together a small Passover Seder. And who walks in...then-Senator Barack Obama. And thus began a meaningful journey to the first Seder ever held in the White House, by the first African American President of the United States, organized by one of those original campaign staffers, Eric Lesser. This remarkable story is re-told in the just released children's book, Next Year in the White House by Richard...
By all accounts, Dr. Alex Kor’s life has been a miracle. The son of two Holocaust survivors who narrowly escaped death, Alex has traveled from Terre Haute, Indiana, to Auschwitz and many places in between on his journey to share the story of his parents, Eva Moses Kor and Mickey Kor, with anyone and everyone who will listen. After a recent trip to lecture at Marlboro Jewish Center, Rabbi Pont caught up with Alex to learn more about his life, the survival stories that both of his parents endured,...
It's Valentine's Day and even though it is not a Jewish holiday, love is most definitely in the air! This week, Rabbi Pont talks to Alla Fine, President & CEO of Alla Fine Coaching and developer of the brand new dating app, AppatMe which matches AI and psychology to the love finding process. If you are looking for love or just want to hear about how to keep your love story going, don't miss this week's episode just in time for Valentine's Day. When you download and activate the app at www.ap...
There are few Holocaust survivor stories like that of the family of Dan Grunfeld, who joins Rabbi Pont this week. The son of Olympic gold medalist, NBA veteran and 30-year NBA executive Ernie Grunfeld, Dan is the author of By the Grace of the Game , the remarkable story of his family's perserverance and strength interwoven with the discovery of a game that unknowingly held the power to heal wounds, build bridges, and tie together a fractured Jewish family. As we approach International Holocaust ...
Happy Hanukkah! As we celebrate over the next eight nights, Rabbi Pont has a quick message about the meaning of Hanukkah and the many blessings it provides.
2024 has been a challenging year for Jews around the world. Acts of violence against Jews have brought out fears that another Kristallnacht could happen again in our lifetimes. With the rise of antisemitism around the world there has never been a more important time to learn the stories as told by survivors of Kristallnacht and the Holocaust. This week Rabbi Pont speaks to one such survivor. Esther Adler, z"l, shares her story as told to her friend Lexi Sherman, who met Esther during her partici...
A few months ago Marlboro Jewish Center added to its team of fearless Jewish leaders with the hiring of its Director of Congregational Learning, Leo Fuhrman. Leo comes to MJC with a variety of educational, leadership and life experiences all of which he is ready to use to help our youth find their Jewish identities and be proud. How is he going to do that? By helping our community make Jewish memories one experience at a time. Don't miss this fascinating conversation between Rabbi Pont and Leo t...
This week Rabbi Pont is joined by Sara Polon (a.k.a. Soupergirl) and Marilyn Polon (a.k.a. Soupermom), the mother/daughter team behind the delicious, kosher, vegan, and responsibly sourced soup brand, Soupergirl. Listen in to hear how a budding stand-up comedian turned her passion for fixing our broken food system into a soup company with the help of her worried Jewish mother. The story is fanscinating and the soup is delicious. Find out where you can get a bowl at https://www.thesoupergirl.com ...
This is a Holocaust survivor story you haven't heard. It is the story of Cantor David Wisnia, a man whose vocal talent saved him from certain death at Auschwitz. Featured in the new award-winning documentary, How Saba Kept Singing, David's story from a child in the Warsaw Ghetto to a survivor who shares his voice at the 75th anniversary celebration of the Liberation is one not to be missed. This week, Rabbi Pont speaks with David's grandson, singer/songwriter Avi Wisnia, about the truly remarkab...
During a first of its kind meeting of Holocaust survivors in Israel Syd Mandelbaum realized that he had to change the world. What followed is a lifetime dedicated to ridding the world of hunger. Enter Rock and Wrap it Up, an organization that takes food from concerts, stadiums, schools and feeds thousands of hungry people every year. Don't miss this episode about someone who has truly set out to make the world a better place.
The fourth season of For the Love of Judaism kicks off with a special episode in honor of the 23rd anniversary of September 11th, 2001. In this episode, Rabbi Pont interviews retired New York City firefighter Dave Smentkowski whose experiences on 9/11 and in the days and years that followed will give chills to all of us as we remember tha fateful day.
It has been an amazing third season of For the Love of Judaism. To send us off into the summer Rabbi Pont shares two recent sermons, one about his trip to the Nova Festival Exhibit in New York and the other about Father's Day and the many ways fathers impact our lives. Two very different sermons but both with inspiration to carry us through to September.
Lots of kids are into sports but few get to live out their dreams as an NFL beat reporter for ESPN. This week's guest, New York Giants beat reporter Jordan Raanan, is one of those lucky few. Don't miss this far reaching conversation about what it is like to travel the country with an NFL team, the importance of relationships in the pursuit of your dreams, and what Jordan thinks is coming down the road for NFL fandom.
Last month Rabbi Pont's daughter Emma graduated from the University of Michigan School of Nursing. As was reported across many news outlets, U of M's graduation ceremony was one of many that was disrupted by protestors. A replay of a recent sermon, this episode features Rabbi Pont as he shares his experience in Ann Arbor from the perspective of a proud father and a proud Zionist.
On this Yom HaShoah, the Day of Remembrance, we recall the six million who died at the hands of the Nazis. Among them was Greta Grunberg, a mother of two young boys who befriended a young German girl named Elizabeth. Elizabeth and Greta lived in the same building, had breakfast together nearly every day and lit Shabbat candles, even after it was made illegal by the Nazis. Some 82 years after Greta was deported from Germany, Elizabeth Umlandt, now 88 years old, remembers her friend and still hold...
What happens when a working single mom from D.C. has the opportunity to live out her dream in the midst of a pandemic? She buys a farm in rural North Carolina! That's the story of Wendy Rhein, owner of Chutzpah Hollow, a self-made homesteader who is part of a growing movement of Jewish farmers. This week Wendy took some time to chat with Rabbi Pont about how she came to move her family from the life they knew to the life she'd dreamed of in 2021, when the whole world was changing around her. Don...
On Yom Kippur 2023 Rabbi Pont delivered a sermon commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War. In late September, it was widely viewed as one of the worst wars that Israel has had to fight in its 75 year history. We had no idea that the Jewish world was about to be changed forever. This week you can listen to this same sermon, knowing now what would come to be just two weeks after Yom Kippur.
Ever wonder how the Conservative movement came to allow driving to Synagogue on Shabbat? Or whether it feels differently about driving electric cars on Shabbat? Or how it was decided that a livestreamed minyan was OK during the COVID-19 pandemic? This week Rabbi Pont talks to Rabbi David Fine of Ridgewood, New Jersey who sits on the Halacha Committee for the Rabbinical Assembly and has been a part of many of the recent decisions that shape our movement. Don't miss this fascinating conversation a...
In the early morning hours of October 7th, Hamas stormed Kibbutz Holit, a small kibbutz in southern Israel. As the terrorists went house to house, Adi Kaploun Vital hid with her two small children while her father hid two houses away. Adi’s actions on that fateful morning saved the lives of her father and her children, Sadly, Adi was murdered by Hamas in her shelter. In the aftermath, Adi's parents, Jacqui and Yaron Vital are on a mission to tell their daughter’s story and raise awareness to ens...
Part of becoming a Bar or Bat Mitzvah at Marlboro Jewish Center is doing an act of chesed, or kindness, for those less fortunate than you are. Every year, our 7th graders find new and exciting projects that are special to them and use those projects to give back to their community. This week Rabbi Pont gave our 7th graders the chance to tell you, the For the Love of Judaism audience, about their projects.
What is the best way to leave a legacy? Inspired by wanting to make sure that his daughter always knew the family from which she came, Jeff started writing down the memories of his childhood and the family myths that had been passed down through the generations. Those stories turned into a great new book, The Black Hole Pastrami and Other Short Stories, released last summer. This week, Jeff joins Rabbi Pont to talk about his stories and how he went from a career in finance and accounting to an a...
In the Conservative Jewish world, few Rabbis have their fingers on pulse like Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal. Rabbi Blumenthal serves concurrently as the CEO of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and the Rabbinical Assembly through a strategic alignment between the two organizations. This week, Rabbis Pont and Blumenthal have a wide ranging organization on everything from the laws that govern conservative Judaism, interfaith marriage, the war in Israel and much more. Most importantly, they sha...
For more than three months, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) has been engaged in a war with Hamas that feels like a defining moment for the present and future of the state of Israel. Few can offer the perspective of today's guest Aaron Cooper, an American who made moved to Israel after high school, joined the IDF, was in the West Bank on October 7th and has been fighting with his fellow soldiers in Gaza since. Aaron and Rabbi Pont touch on all things related to the war and the IDF including Aaron...
By day, Sam Levine is a music teacher at Lloyd Road School in Matawan, New Jersey. At Marlboro Jewish Center, Sam Levine is a talented musician who leads Tot Shabbat and plays in the Shabbat Unplugged Band. On October 2023 he added another title to his name, Wheel of Fortune contestant. On this episode Rabbi Pont explores what led Sam to the Wheel of Fortune stage and what it was like to walk away the big winner! They discuss how years of watching gameshows with family and doing word puzzles wit...
What is the best gift you've ever given? It probably doesn't top what Chrissy Esptein, a young mother of two beautiful daughters, gave to her friend Kieran this past September when she donated her left kidney to save his life. Shaped by the loss of her father on September 11th, 2001, Chrissy always knew that organ donation was something she wanted to explore. And when her friend's husband faced a sudden life or death emergency, it was Chrissy who answered the call and gave her friend the greates...
This week Rabbi Pont is joined by Rabbis Lindsey Healey-Pollack and Andrew Pepperstone, hosts of the podcast Sacred Realms . Sacred Realms discusses the intersection between Judaism and a wide range of sci-fi and fantasy books, movies, and television shows. Each episode, Rabbi Lindsey and Rabbi Andrew discuss what they have been watching or reading recently, do a deep dive into a main topic, bring out from "the Geniza," something from the not-that-distant past, and more. Whether Sci-Fi is your t...
