It is enough work for us to try to fix the world without trying to curate some false pretense of… READ MORE
Beyond the story of Cain and Abel being the first story of one man killing his brother, it is the… READ MORE
The question for us as we emerge from Covid-19 is if we will allow ourselves to express need, be vulnerable,… READ MORE
We need to always be reaching for the heavens AND be deeply rooted in this world. READ MORE
After the pomp and circumstance of the creation story and Adam and Eve’s exile from Eden we have the devastating… READ MORE
But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then erase me out of the book you have written.
~ Exodus 32:32
My name is Rabbi Avi Katz Orlow. I have always had a deep love for the Jewish people and making the world a better place. It was while building community in the Former Soviet Union for YUSSR that I realized the transformative power of being a rabbi. After spending time learning in Israel, I moved to New York to be a charter student in Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, the Open Orthodox Seminary. After graduating in 2004 until 2008 I served as the Rabbi and ran the program at St. Louis Hillel at Washington University. Now I have the great pleasure of thinking about how Judaism is seriously fun. In my mind I am up at camp every day in my work at the Foundation for Jewish Camp. My wife, Cantor Adina Frydman, and I are the proud parents of Yadid, Yishama, Emunah, and Libi.
Said to Myself
When my son Yadid was four years old he came home from daycare and reported to me that he got into trouble. He got put into timeout for throwing sand at another child. Yadid said,” Myself said to myself, I do not want to be in timeout. Myself said to my cry, I do not want to cry”. And with that we started a conversation about his conscious life. It seemed only fitting to continue that conversation with a blog with the same name.
אָמַרְתִּי אֲנִי בְּלִבִּי
My son spoke in the words of Ecclesiastes, “I said in my heart: ‘Come now, I will try you with mirth, and enjoy pleasure’; and, behold, this also was vanity.” (Kohelet 2:1) My mission is to model a life that is personally meaningful, universally relevant, and distinctly Jewish. I aspire to be frank and to speak of Torah in real life.