If God is willing to stay with me, who am I to abandon myself? At the start of our parsha, there is a command to bring oil for lighting the… Read more: ESSAY: God’s Steady Ner Tamid Presence — And Our Own (Parashat Tetzaveh)

In this meditation, we look at the Ner Tamid as a symbol of God’s steady presence with us, even through the dark night of our suffering, and even through “the… Read more: MEDITATION: God’s Steady Ner Tamid Presence — and Our Own (Parashat Tetzaveh)

God is looking for a residence on earth, always looking for a residence in each of us, knocking on our door, saying – can I live inside you?   The instruction… Read more: ESSAY: Becoming a Sanctuary for the Divine Presence (Parashat Terumah)

“They should make for Me a sanctuary and I will dwell in their midst” (Exodus 25:8). “In their midst” [betokham] — inside each one of us. We interpret this as… Read more: MEDITATION: Becoming a Sanctuary for the Divine Presence (Parashat Terumah)

It’s as if all of creation was waiting for us to learn to add nishma to na’aseh, to add listening to doing.   In this week’s parsha, the covenant with God… Read more: ESSAY: Becoming Listeners in Addition to Doers (Parashat Mishpatim)

“Na’aseh Venishma,” we will do and we will listen, the Israelites famously respond to the covenant at Sinai. God wants us to become listeners in addition to doers. (Click image to read more)