Memphis Local, Sports, Business & Food News | Daily Memphian | Micah Greenstein

Opinion: Every year is a new beginning when you open your heart

rabbig@timemphis.org (Micah Greenstein) — Sun, 28 Sep 2025 12:26:28 -0500

Every day is a new beginning, and every year is a fresh start. That’s the larger message of the Jewish high holy days, which started this past week with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and continue for 10 days through Yom Kippur.

Opinion: Upholding Memphis' reputation as a generous city

rabbig@timemphis.org (Micah Greenstein) — Sun, 24 Aug 2025 04:00:04 -0500

“My philanthropic heroes, whether congregants on fixed incomes or billionaires like Warren Buffett, embody a rare attribute. Sacrificial giving means contributing beyond one’s self, not merely after one’s self-pursuits or leisure.”

Opinion: Bridging generations for community betterment

rabbig@timemphis.org (Micah Greenstein) — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 16:54:31 -0500

“What Memphis truly needs are those who love this city, whether native or newcomer, seeing it not just as it is but as it could be.”

Opinion: Trump's defunding of universities is an attack on knowledge itself

rabbig@timemphis.org (Micah Greenstein) — Sun, 22 Jun 2025 04:00:14 -0500

“It is hard to understand how defunding scientific research and the arts, and preventing the enrollment of international students, aligns with the administration’s stated goal of combating antisemitism.”

Greenstein: Memorial Day is more than a vacation day

rabbig@timemphis.org (Micah Greenstein) — Sun, 25 May 2025 07:25:51 -0500

“All Americans owe the families of the servicemen and women who died serving our country more than lip service in gratitude, appreciation and reverence.”

Greenstein: Celebrating Passover while immigrants go to bed in fear

rabbig@timemphis.org (Micah Greenstein) — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 04:00:00 -0500

“Freedom is hollow and meaningless until and unless we accept responsibility individually and communally for assuring freedom for all.”

Greenstein: We must accept each other’s existence and work together for the greater good

rabbig@timemphis.org (Micah Greenstein) — Sun, 23 Mar 2025 11:10:52 -0500

There are more than 53 Muslim countries in the world, and more than 60 majority-Christian countries. There is only one Jewish country, so why would good people of all faiths not recognize the right of the only Jewish state to simply exist?

Greenstein: 'Religion for adults means embracing complexity'

rabbig@timemphis.org (Micah Greenstein) — Sun, 23 Feb 2025 04:00:08 -0600

“Science is essential to understanding how things work, but science will never explain why things matter to the human heart.”

This Passover, a global pandemic puts the 10 plagues in perspective

rabbig@timemphis.org (Micah Greenstein) — Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:21:51 -0600

Confined to our homes and apartments, Jews across Memphis, America and the world will impart the same timeless lessons of Passover via Zoom and digital touchpoints instead of large in-person seder gatherings.

Opinion: Micah Greenstein's letter from Israel

rabbig@timemphis.org (Micah Greenstein) — Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:21:35 -0600

The senior rabbi of the largest synagogue in Tennessee on how “religious and nationalist zealots of all faiths can wreck any country, as we all know – and Israel is on the brink of disenfranchising the majority of the Jewish people in the Diaspora.”

Greenstein: Hanukkah's message is one of hope

rabbig@timemphis.org (Micah Greenstein) — Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:21:18 -0600

“Moving from the original Hebrew, there are actually eight different ways to spell the name of this week’s Jewish holiday in English — all of them correct. No matter how you letter it, Hanukkah contains a beautiful and powerful message.”

Greenstein: 'Children are truly our greatest spiritual teachers'

rabbig@timemphis.org (Micah Greenstein) — Sun, 26 Jan 2025 04:00:07 -0600

“We sometimes forget how the unique perspective of children, particularly babies and toddlers, can foster our own faith.”

Greenstein: L’chayim — to life!

rabbig@timemphis.org (Micah Greenstein) — Thu, 26 Dec 2024 22:19:00 -0600

“I have often marveled how ‘L’chayim’ and Jewish prayers in general were written when my ancestors were persecuted. ... They still contended that life has infinite meaning and light can and must pierce the darkness. ”

Greenstein: Even in the darkest of times, we have reason to give thanks

rabbig@timemphis.org (Micah Greenstein) — Sun, 24 Nov 2024 04:00:12 -0600

The history of Thanksgiving can help us appreciate the miracle of being alive in this time and place, and the timeless gift of gratitude can ground us through any storm.

Greenstein: 'Being in the moment'

rabbig@timemphis.org (Micah Greenstein) — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 13:26:01 -0500

“Most of us emphasize learning from the past or planning for the future. Unfortunately, this often leads to living in the past and agonizing about the future.”

Greenstein: It’s about time

rabbig@timemphis.org (Micah Greenstein) — Sun, 22 Sep 2024 04:00:05 -0500

“Life imposes enough stress on human beings without doing anything, so why add to life’s inevitable sorrows by worrying?”

Greenstein: Xenophobic slander has become normalized

rabbig@timemphis.org (Micah Greenstein) — Sun, 25 Aug 2024 04:00:10 -0500

“There is not enough room in one country to house (all) the ... human beings living on this planet. However, there are humane and inhumane ways to find solutions and address the most vulnerable members of society.”

Greenstein: In my faith tradition, sex and love are not taboo

rabbig@timemphis.org (Micah Greenstein) — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 16:50:26 -0500

“The purpose of Judaism, and all sacred faith traditions, is not to teach people to repress their appetites as evil but to train people to control their appetites because they are God-given.”

Greenstein: Family reunions are 'spiritual reminders'

rabbig@timemphis.org (Micah Greenstein) — Sun, 23 Jun 2024 04:00:05 -0500

“I view summer family reunions as spiritual reminders for what sets people apart from other species. As cute as dogs are, you don’t see animals in the wild reuniting across generations. Only human beings do that.”

Greenstein: 'We can all change the world'

rabbig@timemphis.org (Micah Greenstein) — Thu, 30 May 2024 20:43:31 -0500

“Too often we underestimate our own ability to make a difference in another human life, and we fail to appreciate that singular ability in others as well.”