Chatting with Rabbi Mike
14 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 7 years ago - ★★★★★ - 1 ratingRabbi Michael E. Harvey of the Hebrew Congregation of St. Thomas, was ordained by the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in 2015. He earned a Master’s degree in Hebrew Letters from Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion & a Bachelor’s degree in psychology from Boston University. Throughout his tenure at HUC-JIR, Rabbi Harvey served congregations, small & large, in Arkansas, Missouri, Ohio, Alabama, Mississippi, & Texas.
Certified as a Prepare & Enrich marital & pre-marital counselor, Rabbi Harvey served as a chaplain at both Norton Hospital & Kosair Children’s Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky. He is committed to interfaith education & social justice, locally & nationally. His dedication to both these areas can be seen in the work he has done with The Center for Holocaust & Humanity Education, the American Jewish World Service, The Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, & The Chautauqua Institution.
Rabbi Harvey sits as a board member for the United Way of the Virgin Islands, Salvation Army Advisory Board, Catholic Charities of the Virgin Islands, Advisory Board of the UVI Center for the Study of Spirituality & Professionalism, & Downtown Revitalization Faith Group. He also serves on the Development Committee for the Family Resource Center & is the founder & president of the newly formed Interfaith Council of the Caribbean. Plus, he proudly serves as a member of The Rotary Club of St. Thomas Sunrise, as part of Rotary International.
Additionally, he is a member of the rabbinic advisory council for the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives, “The B’nai Ya’akov Council.” Rabbi Harvey lives happily in St. Thomas with his wife, Barrie, and his son, Asher.
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Episodes
Counting of the Omer, An Important Verbal Counting of 49 Days
May 17, 2017 15:00 - 31 minutes - 27.6 MBCounting of the Omer (Hebrew: Sefirat HaOmer, sometimes abbreviated as Sefira or the Omer) is an important verbal counting of each of the forty-nine days between the Jewish holidays of Passover and Shavuot as stated in the Hebrew Bible: Leviticus 23:15–16. This mitzvah ("commandment") derives from the Torah commandment to count forty-nine days beginning from the day on which the Omer, a sacrifice containing an omer-measure of barley, was offered in the Temple in Jerusalem, up until the day...
Israel’s Independence Day as Celebrated in the United States
May 02, 2017 15:00 - 31 minutes - 28 MBMany Jewish Americans in the US remember Israel’s Independence Day, also known as Yom Ha’Atzmaut (or Yom HaAtzmaut). Celebrations are annually held on or around the 5th day of the month of Iyar, according to the Jewish calendar. Many Jewish organizations, including community centers, university student groups, & some schools, organize events to celebrate Yom Ha’Atzmaut. Many of these events are open to the general public and include entertainment such as: Kosher pizza dinners, Singing, music ...
Passover: A Festival of Freedom
April 12, 2017 15:30 - 31 minutes - 28.1 MBWhat is Passover? Passover is a festival of freedom that commemorates the Israelites’ Exodus from Egypt, & their transition from slavery to freedom. The main ritual of Passover is the seder, which occurs on the first 2 night of the holiday. It's a festive meal that involves the re-telling of the Exodus through stories & song & the consumption of ritual foods, including matzah & maror (bitter herbs). The seder’s rituals & other readings are outlined in the Haggadah. What are some Passover pra...
Jewish Ethics: Some Basic Concepts and Impressions
April 04, 2017 15:00 - 32 minutes - 28.5 MBMost subsequent Jewish ethical claims may be traced back to the texts, themes, and teachings of the written Torah. In early rabbinic Judaism, the oral Torah both interpreted the Hebrew Bible and engaged in novel topics. Ethics is a key aspect of this legal literature, known as the literature of halakhah. Jewish ethics is the moral philosophy particular to one or both of the Jewish religion and peoples. Serving as a convergence of Judaism and the Western philosophical tradition of ethics, the...
Rise of Antisemitism, Bomb Threats at the JCC's, Violations at Cemeteries
February 28, 2017 15:00 - 31 minutes - 27.8 MBA series of coordinated bomb threats at Jewish Community Centers (JCCs) across the United States have threatened children, many of them preschoolers, and their parents, causing repeated evacuations and creating a sense of anxiety some are finding hard to shake. The FBI is investigating at least 54 bomb threats at JCCs in 27 states, with 11 new threats called in Monday, February 6th. Over the weekend, gravesites at a Jewish cemetery in University City, Missouri, were vandalized. One JCC in Bi...
Nobody Wanted to Take Us In: The Story of Jared Kushner’s Family
January 31, 2017 15:00 - 30 minutes - 27.2 MBAs Trump bars refugees & Muslim immigrants from coming to this country, it’s worth remembering the Jews who were shut out the last time we closed our borders—like Jared Kushner’s grandmother. By Lizzy Ratner, a Senior Editor at www.TheNation.com Oszcar Ratowzer, also known as Osher, was my grandfather. The manifest lists him as being 16, but my family believes he was closer to 19 or 20 when he boarded the Aquitania in Southampton, England, on Oct. 23, 1920, & began his 3rd-class voyage acr...
Special MLK Event, the Interfaith Council, Civil Rights, and the Holocaust
January 17, 2017 15:00 - 31 minutes - 27.5 MBAARP Virgin Islands is very pleased to be joining with Interfaith Council of the Caribbean (ICC) to present a special Martin Luther King event featuring Reverend Otis Moss and Andrew Sternberg on Sunday, January 22nd in the Administrative Conference Room on University of the Virgin Islands Campus on St. Thomas from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. and again on Monday, January 23rd, in the Cardiac Center adjacent to the Juan F. Luis Hospital on St. Croix from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Reverend Moss worked...
Annual Shabbat Awards Service Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King
January 12, 2017 15:00 - 27 minutes - 23.9 MBAfrican Americans & American Jews have interacted throughout much of the history of the United States. This relationship has included widely publicized cooperation & conflict. Cooperation during the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1954–68) was strategic & significant, culminating in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. But the relationship has also been marred by conflict & controversy related to such topics as the role of a small number of American Jews, among a large number of other Americ...
The Difference of Languages within Hebrew and Its Evolution into Spoken Hebrew
November 29, 2016 15:00 - 31 minutes - 28.2 MBHebrew is a language native to Israel, spoken by over 9 million people worldwide, of which over 5 million are in Israel. Historically, it is regarded as the language of the Israelites and their ancestors, although the language was not referred to by the name Hebrew in the Tanakh. The earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date from the 10th century BCE. Hebrew belongs to the West Semitic branch of the Afro-asiatic language family. Modern Hebrew is one of the 2 official languages of the ...
Rabbi Mike Escorted Students for a Life Experience in Israel
November 23, 2016 17:30 - 32 minutes - 28.6 MBRabbi Mike will share the landmarks that students from the Montessori School on St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands visited during their trip to Israel & Jordan. The Liberty Bell Park and Surroundings, one of Jerusalem’s largest, created in 1976 in honor of the US bicentennial. The Weitzmann Institute of Science, one of the world’s leading multidisciplinary basic research institutions in the natural & exact sciences. Shabbat at the Kotel: According to Jewish tradition, the Western Wall is the...
Simchat Torah, the Next Upcoming Holiday
October 18, 2016 15:00 - 32 minutes - 28.4 MBImmediately following Sukkot, we celebrate Sh'mini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, a fun-filled day during which we celebrate the completion of the annual reading of the Torah and affirm Torah as one of the pillars on which we build our lives. As part of the celebration, the Torah scrolls are taken from the ark and carried or danced around the synagogue seven times. During the Torah service, the concluding section of the fifth book of the Torah, D’varim (Deuteronomy), is read, and immediately fol...
All about Sukkot, the Feast of Booths
October 11, 2016 15:00 - 31 minutes - 27.8 MBSukkot, a Hebrew word meaning "booths" or "huts," refers to the Jewish festival of giving thanks for the fall harvest. It also commemorates the 40 years of Jewish wandering in the desert after the giving of the Torah atop Mt. Sinai. Sukkot, or Succot, literally Feast of Booths, is commonly translated to English as Feast of Tabernacles, sometimes also as Feast of the Ingathering. It is a biblical Jewish holiday celebrated on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei (varies from late September to ...
Rosh Hashanah: The New Year, Revisited
October 04, 2016 15:00 - 1 hour - 56.6 MBNotice: We're on Stitcher. Click => http://bit.ly/2d6R7Bi . We're also on iTunes. Welcome back to Chatting with Rabbi Mike, a discussion spot on Judaism, its history, its belief, and its practices, especially in the US Virgin and Caribbean. Rabbi Michael Harvey will be here every Tuesday at 11:00 am Eastern Time. We're now also on your Stitcher apps and devices, as well as on iTunes. The Interfaith Council of the Caribbean was founded to promote mutual understanding, respect, appreciation, ...
Welcome to the Debut of Chatting with Rabbi Mike
September 20, 2016 15:00 - 31 minutes - 27.8 MBWelcome! Rabbi Michael Harvey's discussion on Judaism, its history, its belief, & its practices, especially in the US Virgin Islands & Caribbean every Tuesday at 11:00 am Atlantic Time. Events will be announced, questions will be answered, & challenges accepted. Rabbi Mike founded The Interfaith Council of the Caribbean to promote (ICC) to promote mutual understanding, respect, appreciation, & cooperation among people of various faith & cultural communities in the USVI, BVI, & Caribbean. Mem...