December 22, 2023 As 2023 winds down, tis’ the season for traveling and family reunions, which happen to be the central elements in this week’s Torah portion, Parshat Vayigash, the penultimate parsha in the book of Genesis. The parsha picks up with Joseph’s first encounter with his brothers in over 20 years… Last they saw one another, Joseph’s brothers …
December 15, 2023 Last night, I watched with gratitude and with sadness as the eight flames of the hanukkiah flickered strongly and defiantly, then slowly burned down to embers and then completely out. I couldn’t tear myself away from the sight of it – these two hanukkiot that we’d placed in the window, fulfilling the …
December 8, 2023 More than 2,000 years ago, our ancestors stood in the midst of the wreckage of the ruined, desecrated Temple and began cleaning and rebuilding immediately. Maybe not right away with brooms and dustpans (or whatever they used at that time), but with their intention, from an unimaginable strength of spirit within them, …
December 1, 2023 It seems like any other day. You wake up, pour a cup of coffee, and head out. But today, when you open your front door, waiting for you is a small wooden box, inscribed with the words, “The measure of your life lies within.” This box holds your fate: the exact number …
November 23, 2023 Much ink has been spilled and many jokes have been made about this, and yet, there is no singular answer to this question. However, in this week’s Torah portion, Parshat Vayetzei, we get a glimpse at one of my favorite of the myriad of possible answers: Upon giving birth to her fourth son, …
November 3, 2023 In pain and sorrow and utter heartbreak I – we all – have watched the events in Israel unfold. I know I am not alone in these feelings, and even with my background in and familiarity with the Hebrew Bible, ancient Near East history and the contemporary geopolitical conflict, I have …
October 27, 2023 As we enter our third Shabbat since the terrorist attacks in Israel, I want us to hold on to joy, connection, community, and tradition. I want us to hold on to each other, and to hold each other up. I want us to keep living with open hearts, open minds, and …
October 20, 2023 Unimaginably long ago, our sacred story tells us, God regretted creating humanity. God had second thoughts. The creation, in just ten generations, had come a long way from the perfection of its beginning – the decline notably underway with the first murder as retold in last week’s parashah: the slaying of …
October 13, 2023 For much of this week, while watching in horror as rockets fall on Israel, and retaliation is visited upon Gaza, as death tolls rise and stories of the victims are recounted, as my friends and the children of my teachers are called up to fight, I have been at a loss for …
