Gerald C. Skolnik, at The Blogs

Apply for a Blog

Jun 15, 2018, 8:29 AM

Getting personal about depression

Illustrative. Guilt, shame, headache, depression. (via iStock)

I share our story with you to shatter the myth that everyone you see socially is a model of perfection or wellness

Mar 27, 2018, 1:11 AM

All the Lonely People…

Despair, aging, loneliness, depression. (via iStock)

That time a man on the street taught me a lesson about what humans truly need

Jan 24, 2018, 3:54 AM

They also serve…

“They also serve who only stand and wait” is the famous tag line of John Milton’s poem “On His Blindness.” Asserting his usefulness in the face of a disability not charitably understood in seventeenth century England, Milton’s words became a more broadly applied affirmation of...

Dec 20, 2017, 12:54 AM

Where is George Carlin When We Need Him?

In 1972, the late and much-missed comedian George Carlin performed a memorable monologue titled “The Seven Words You Can’t Say On Television.” The routine, which for obvious reasons I can’t describe in too much detail here, was brilliant, and, of course, hysterical. It forever etched...

Dec 7, 2017, 3:29 AM

Losing Neil Gillman: A Personal Reflection

In the weeks since his death, many voices have risen to pay tribute to Professor Neil Gillman, the eminent theologian whose teaching career at the Jewish Theological Seminary had an enormous and profound influence on generations of Conservative rabbis and laypeople, myself very much included....

Oct 3, 2017, 9:28 PM

Silence is not the right response

In response to the horrific massacre this week in Las Vegas, President Trump, after proclaiming Stephen Paddock’s murderous rampage “an act of pure evil,” stood outside the White House with his wife and the Pences. Together, they bowed their heads and observed a moment of...

Aug 11, 2017, 6:56 AM

Hello, Goodbye, Au Revoir…

Before I even get to the subject at hand, a brief forward… As many of you know, I’ve been writing for the Jewish Week for the better part of 20 years, starting first with occasional op-eds in the print edition, then moving to weekly pieces...

Jun 28, 2017, 10:10 PM

Why We Must Must Hold The Line On Intermarriage

By declaring their readiness to officiate — in a limited way — in intermarriages, and preparing to resign from Conservative Judaism’s Rabbinical Assembly, whose policies prohibit such a practice, Rabbis Amichai Lau-Lavie and Roly Matalon have thrown down the gauntlet to American Judaism’s religious center...

May 11, 2017, 5:17 PM

An America I Don’t Know

Some years ago, when the New York football Giants began their season with a string of close losses, a reporter asked their famous coach, Bill Parcells, if he believed that the Giants were a better team than their record showed. After all, the games they...

Mar 30, 2017, 9:14 PM

And Then There Was Nikki Haley…

Along with some 19,000 other Zionists of various stripes and persuasions, I made the Haj to Washington, DC this week for AIPAC’s annual Policy Conference. It has long been true for me that the greatest pleasure of the PC is spending a few days with...

Load more

About Me

Rabbi Gerald C. Skolnik is the spiritual leader of the Forest Hills Jewish Center in Queens.