Rabbi Sandra

“He’s got the White House looking like a Saddam Hussein open up a Cheesecake Factory” - Obama

I recently read about Rabbi Nikki Golomb, who was fired from her position at Emory Hillel just weeks after beginning her job. rabbisandra.substack.com/p/the-cost-o...

Happy Monday! 🍂🍁 Fall is definitely here in Durham! Feeling grateful for another day, and the opportunity to make a difference. Wishing everyone a week filled with gratitude, joy, and peace. ❤️

Twitter was one of the best things to ever happen to me and I'm never going back.

www.brookings.edu/articles/how...

In Judaism, we say, “May you live to be 120,” like Moses. But after reading about Jonathan, the 194-year-old tortoise, maybe we should say: May you live to be close to 194+ like Jonathan! 🐢😂 www.nytimes.com/2026/10/07/s...

I’ve been working out lifting weights since I was a teenager. I just saw a guy spray water on himself and then make a video. I think to show that he was “sweating” and “working hard.” Probably the strangest thing I’ve seen.

Happy rainy Sunday in Durham

What exhausts me is what we have begun to demand of each other once we disagree. Choose a side, and then defend your side. Tell me what you think about one issue, and somehow that’s supposed to tell me what you think about everything else. substack.com/home/post/p-...

For those who don't speak military: Pete Hegseth's highest rank was major. In civilian terms, that's basically middle management. That's not an insult to majors. It's perspective. He talks like he spent his military career in the C-suite. He didn't.

Tomorrow I'm teaching Torah study, which means today I'm doing one of my favorite rabbi activities: figuring out how to turn the 47 things I want to teach into the 4 things we actually have time for. 😂

Bridget 🐕got me up at 4:30 this morning because she was sick, so I took her outside and went back to bed. Then at 5:30 🐕 Simon started crying because he needed to go out. And somehow, after all that, I am now up an hour and a half later than I should be. 😂 Good morning, everybody.

Sukkot asks us to spend time in something fragile and temporary—and still call it sacred. Maybe the lesson isn’t that we can make life secure. Maybe it’s that we can still build, gather, and find joy even when it isn’t. 🌿 What is Sukkot asking you to notice this year?

Had a wonderful meeting today with Rev. Lisa B. Garcia-Sampson. So grateful for her friendship and for the partnership between UU Justice NC and Carolina Jews for Justice. This work is better when we do it together. 💜

Leg day!!

I love Libra season because my birthday is coming. But I sit in meetings with mostly white people, and they talk about how happy they are that it’s fall. I don’t like fall because winter is coming. So somebody explain this to me: why do white people like fall so much?

This is a make-me presidency Congress says taxpayer money can't pay for political ads, so Trump ran two in a week If he makes us, @democracydefendersaction.org & partners are ready, & the courts have slapped him down plenty The latest w/ @morningjoe-msnow.bsky.social👇 -TN

Day 617 of a 34-count convicted felon serving as President of the United States.

Our next Zoom Torah Study is Saturday, Oct. 24 at 10 AM ET. We’ll explore Lech-Lecha together—ask questions, wrestle with the text, and make connections. No Hebrew or text-study experience needed. Just curiosity. Join The Study, my $10/month Patreon tier, to participate. patreon.com/rabbisandra

Day 615 of a convicted felon serving as President of the United States.

It’s Libra season!! ♎️ Time for balance, beauty, connection, and just the right amount of indecision. 😂 Happy Libra season to my fellow Libras! 💜

Texas’ highest criminal court rejected an appeal from prosecutors seeking to reinstate the 2018 conviction of Crystal Mason, meaning the Fort Worth woman will not have to serve a five-year sentence for casting a provisional vote in 2016 while on supervised release.

Today is a great day to fire Pete Hegseth.

Shavua Tov

We joined a new gym today. #onelifefitness

Memory is also a form of listening. To remember truthfully means listening to the past instead of using it as a flattering backdrop. A country can build memorials. It can teach the dates. It can say “never again.” rabbisandra.substack.com/p/haazinu-wh...

Ya'll the GOP is now too racist for Karl Rove and Tucker Carlson. Let that sink in.

Our next Zoom Torah Study is Saturday, Oct. 24 at 10 AM ET. We’ll explore Lech-Lecha together—ask questions, wrestle with the text, and make connections. No Hebrew or text-study experience needed. Just curiosity. Join The Study, my $10/month Patreon tier, to participate. patreon.com/rabbisandra

I will be leading Torah study at Judea Reform in Durham on Saturday September 19. It starts at 9 AM Eastern. If you can come in person that would be great. Otherwise here’s the Zoom link. www.judeareform.org/torah-study....

Karl Rove says he is voting for a Democrat

Trump must be absolutely pissed. The Fed just raised interest rates for the first time in three years. 😂 Oh look he is👇

The Kennedy Center board says they’ll go broke unless Trump’s name goes back on the building. Which is wild, considering they started going broke after they put his name on it. He set the kitchen on fire, and now they’re saying the only way to save the house is to give him back the matches.

I’m excited to be part of Shir Chadash!, a Jewish music, arts, and spirituality retreat happening October 28–November 1 in the beautiful Hudson Valley. Use discount code RABBISANDRA when you register. Learn more and register at ShirChadashRetreat.org shirchadashretreat.org

As the second day of Rosh Hashanah comes to a close and we move deeper into the Days of Awe, ask yourself: What am I carrying from the past year that I do not want to carry into the new one?

Rosh Hashanah, Memory, and Who Belongs Tonight begins Rosh Hashanah, and today also marks the 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001. One of the recurring themes of our holiday is that we are asked to remember. rabbisandra.substack.com/p/rosh-hasha...

Phang: I’m here in Dallas, Texas, at the Republican National Convention’s midterm convention. I can tell you it’s an incredibly underwhelming energy here. Many of you may have been to conventions in other cities. There is a dynamic, almost frenetic energy surrounding a convention. Here? Womp womp

Is there some awkward meaning behind this comment or are you just trying to spread joy. If the latter go forth and spread joy.

you can be arrested if you give water to people waiting on line to vote

Who do I want to be in the year ahead, and what do I need to change in order to become that person?