Rabbi Neal Gold

Rabbi Neal Gold is a teacher, author, and writer based in Massachusetts. He is the Jewish chaplain and Hillel director at Babson College. Email Rabbi Gold or visit his website

Hands holding a mound of dirt and a small plant

Experiencing Israel

Tu BiShvat: How Israel Has Planted New Seeds in the Jewish Soul

Rabbi Neal Gold

The way we celebrate Tu BiShvat has changed over the years – a case-in-point of how Jewish life and observance has been transformed in our day, due in no small part thanks to the successes of the State of Israel.

Zionism

Reform Zionism: What Do the Four Children Have to Say?

Rabbi Neal Gold

Liberation isn’t solely freedom from Egyptian bondage; it’s also intentional direction toward Sinai and the ultimate arrival in the Promised Land. Yet Eretz Yisrael itself is rarely mentioned in the Haggadah text.

Purim

The Book of Esther: A Brilliant Satire of Israel-Diaspora Relations Today

Rabbi Neal Gold

In the Hasidic tale “The Humble King,” Rebbe Nachman of Bratzlav wrote, “If you want to understand the nature of a community, understand its humor.”

Four college students from behind talking and walking along the outside of an academic building

Why Do Parents Cry When Their Children Leave for College?

Rabbi Neal Gold

August 29, 2018

Leaving our son at college for his first year, my wife and I are full of confidence, pride, and excitement, and we shed a few tears, too.

Portion of the Israel flag (Star of David on white background with part of the blue stripes visible) on the righthand part of a wooden surface

Ten Minutes of Torah

The Theological Compromise in Israel’s Founding Document

Rabbi Neal Gold

August 21, 2018

It was May 13, 1948 and the new Jewish State was to be declared the following afternoon, but David Ben Gurion didn’t yet have a Declaration of Independence.