Bereshit (Genesis)
Yaakov suffers.. His is a hard lot, symbolized by the rock he puts his head on. He is born into strife with his brother, and it follows him into his marriages and family life. He works tirelessly only to be cheated by his father in law, and, ever lurking in the background, is a brother […]
QUICK THOUGHT: What Good Do Angels Do? (Parashat Vayetze) Read More »
Maybe our feelings are angels, divine messengers sent to help us heal and grow. This parsha begins with angels (the ones in Yaakov’s ladder dream), and it ends with angels. I’d like to focus on the less well known concluding angels. After Yaakov leaves Haran with his family to return home, Lavan chases him in
ESSAY: Our Feelings Are Angels (Parashat Vayetze) Read More »
In this meditation, we explore the story of the angels that appear to Yaakov at the end of the parsha and its relationship to the beginning of next week’s parsha, when Yaakov sends out messengers to make contact with Esav. We consider the idea that these angels may have been the uneasy feelings that Yaakov
MEDITATION: Our Feelings Are Angels (Parashat Vayetze) Read More »
Sometimes we think, like Yaakov, that we have to pretend to be someone else in order to be blessed, in order to be loved, in order to be attended to. We dress ourselves up like the cool flashy kids who are big and strong and wear leather jackets and know how to hunt. We are
QUICK THOUGHT: Being Yourself (Parashat Toldot) Read More »
The parsha is full of fighting — fighting between Yaakov and Esav over the birthright and the blessing, and fighting between the shepherds of Gerar and the shepherds of Yitzhak over wells. Behind this fighting is a sense of scarcity of resources. In this meditation, we look inside to see what kinds of scarcity we
MEDITATION: On Scarcity and Spaciousness (Parashat Toldot) Read More »
(Originally published in 2020) I want to focus on one word in our parsha, Rechovot, “wide open spaces.” (Click image to read more)
ESSAY: On Divine Spaciousness: Offering it Back to Our Ancestors (Parashat Toldot) Read More »
It’s not true that no one got sacrificed at the Akedah, the Binding of Isaac. Someone did get sacrificed –Sarah. Sarah’s death at the beginning of our parsha immediately follows the story of the Akedah, and Rashi famously explains the connection as causal: When an angel came to inform Sarah that her son had been
ESSAY: Listen to Her Voice (Parashat Chayei Sarah) Read More »
Sarah in some way dies from inattention, from not being properly honored and listened to. In this meditation, we work to find the Sarah inside us, the deep knowing resting place that connects us to the divine; we find this place and rest in it; we listen to it and honor it, so that Sarah
MEDITATION: Listen To the Voice of Your Own Sarah (Parashat Chayei Sarah) Read More »
Like Hagar and Avraham, we are blind until God opens our eyes to see that everything we need is right here. (Click image to read more)
MEDITATION: Opening Our Eyes (Parashat Vayera) Read More »
Our first hearing of God is invariably harsh. (Click image to read more)
POEM: Unbinding (Parashat Vayera) Read More »