Here’s the thing: we all make mistakes, sometimes with harmful consequences for ourselves and others. Mostly we don’t make these mistakes out of ill will or an evil nature, but simply because we are human beings, inclined to error and imperfection by our very nature. Our relationships are messy; we try; we do […]
SHORT ESSAY: The City of Refuge Inside Us (Parashat Matot-Masei) Read More »
Included in this week’s parsha is the Olat Tamid — the burnt offering that was sacrificed on the sanctuary altar twice a day, every day. Tamid means “always” — not just now and then, but all the time, regularly — reminding us of the importance of constancy and steadfastness in our connection to God.
SHORT ESSAY: On The Olat Tamid and Eternity (Parashat Pinchas) Read More »
On the verse: מה טובו אהליך יעקב משכנותיך ישראל How good are your tents, O Yaakov, your dwelling places, O Israel! (Numbers 24:5). Come relax into the goodness of the divine sanctuary. To listen to the meditation, click here.
MEDITATION: Mah Tovu — Entering the Sanctury of goodness (Parashat Balak) Read More »
For Korah, being a Levite is not enough — he wants priesthood as well — but I want to take a moment to honor the role of the Levite. To be a Levite is to keep others company. Leah gave her third son the name Levi in hopes of accompaniment by her less than
SHORT ESSAY: Act Like a Levi! (Parashat Korach) Read More »
In this meditation, we explore what it means to be a Levi, to keep company, to provide accompaniment to ourselves. You can access it here. If you have trouble, click the image and then try clicking the word “here” again. iPhoto by Noelle Otto at Pexels
MEDITATION: Act Like a Levi! (Parashat Korach) Read More »
For a 12 minute meditation on Parashat Shelach, click here. (Or click on image and then click here). Photo by Any Lane of Pexels
MEDITATION: We Have All 12 Spies Inside Us (Parashat Shelach) Read More »
El na refa na lah (Numbers 12:13) — These are the words Moshe uses to cry out to God on behalf of his sister Miriam when she is afflicted by a skin disease after gossiping about him and his Cushite wife. O Lord please heal her. Translated word for word it reads: Lord, please,
SHORT ESSAY: The Healing Middle (Parashat Beha’alotecha) Read More »
#1: On Kedushah (Holiness) According to some Hasidic commentators, kedushah refers not to the content of what you are permitted to do or to eat, but to the way that you go about doing or eating it. What is required by kedushah, they say, is to take every action b’yishuv hada’at , with a settled
SHORT ESSAY: Two Thoughts on Parashat Acharei-Mot/Kedoshim Read More »
I have never understood the Rashi at the beginning of this week’s parsha. Rashi is responding to theTorah’s lengthy way of telling us Sarah’s age at death — vayeheyu hayei Sarah me’ah shanah ve’esrim shanah . . . . ”Sarah’s lifetime was 100 years and 20 years and 7 years — this was the span
SHORT ESSAY: A Post-humous Celebration of Sarah (Parashat Chayei Sarah) Read More »
When God appears to Avraham in the beginning of this week’s parsha, what is Avraham doing? He is yoshev petah ha’ohel , “sitting in the opening of the tent,” ready to greet and welcome and honor whoever happens to come by. He sits in a posture of openness towards the world; if war comes,
Parashat Vayera: Inviting in Whoever Comes Read More »