Parsha

MEDITATION: You Are God’s Beloved Child (Parashat Re’eh)

/ Re'eh, רְאֵה, Meditations

You are God’s children (Deuteronomy 14:1). Banim atem Lashem Elokeikhem. In this meditation, we explore what it would mean to live into this reality, to treat ourselves with the dignity and honor of a child of God. We look at the phrase that comes after this one, lo titgodedu, the prohibition against cutting yourself as

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MEDITATION: Desert Suffering As Growth Process (Parashat Eikev)

/ Eikev, עֵקֶב, Meditations

The Israelites’ 40 year sojourn in the desert was an extremely challenging one, with snakes and hunger and thirst and difficulties at every turn. In this week’s parsha, this desert experience is described as a growth process, its purpose to help us learn something about our true nature and relationship to God. In this meditation,

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MEDITATION: Both Growth and Rest (Parashat Matot-Masei)

/ Meditations, Matot, מַּטּוֹת, Masei, מַסְעֵי

In parashat Masei, the Israelites’ travels through the desert are detailed with 42 stops, each one described in the form vayisu, “they travelled,” and vayachanu, “they camped.” In this meditation, we consider the two energies implied by these two verbs, on the one hand, movement and growth and becoming, and on the other hand, rest

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ESSAY: Standing Strong Like The Daughters of Tzelafchad (Parashat Pinchas)

/ Pinchas, פִּינְחָס

You are here. You are strong and confident in yourself. You are claiming this space, your right to be here. (Click image to read more)

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MEDITATION: Standing Strong Like the Daughters of Tzelafchad (Parashat Pinchas)

/ Meditations, Pinchas, פִּינְחָס

In this meditation, we look to the daughters of Tzelafchad — who petitioned and won the right to inherit land — as models of empowerment and agency. We consider their movements, first circling inward and then standing with integrity before others, and we remember God’s supportive ken, “yes” to their self reclamation and to ours.

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MEDITATION: Listening to the Pain, Listening to Our Donkey Part (Parashat Balak)

/ Meditations, Balak, בָּלָק

We are sent angels — signs and symptoms, obstacles and experiences of pain — along our journey to help guide us to the path of blessing (not curse) for which we were created. In this meditation, we practice listening to these angels. (Click image to read more and listen)

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