אל נא רפא נא לה El na refa na lah. O Lord, please heal her, please.(Numbers 12:13, in this week’s Torah portion) These five Hebrew words are Moshe’s prayer to God to heal his sister, Miriam, after she has been afflicted with leprosy as a divine punishment for speaking slanderously. The text tells us little […]
Parashat Beha’alotekha: On Healing Read More »
There is a lot of pain that is surfacing in our world, A lot of injustice and suffering and fear. There also continues to be a current of uncertainty and unease and even confusion. How does a person hold steady amidst it all, without denying either the suffering — of self and other — or
SHORT ESSAY: Shalom Is a Container (Parashat Naso) Read More »
Vayehi kol hashofar holekh vehazek me’od. The sound of the shofar blast on Mount Sinai is described as getting stronger and stronger. Rashi points out that this is a sign of its divine origin; when a human being makes a sound, the sound gradually gets weaker and weaker; only God’s sound keeps increasing in strength.
SHORT ESSAY: Getting Stronger (Parashat Yitro) Read More »
We feel that everything needs to be done before we can be free, before we can rest and have peace and “get there,” wherever we are trying to get. We have to first complete our to-do list. Then we will have earned peace and maybe even redemption. But we are not there yet. And then
SHORT ESSAY: On Not Finishing the Baking (Parashat Bo) Read More »
Eheyeh asher Eheyeh. I will be what I will be. This is how God tells Moshe to introduce Him to the people of Israel this week. This name of God reminds me of the song: Que sera, seraWhatever will be, will beThe future’s not ours to seeQue sera, sera The implication of “I will be
SHORT ESSAY: I will be what I will be (Parashat Shemot) Read More »
The Torah portrays a world in which God does care about a single person, no matter how messed up. (Click image to read more)
SHORT ESSAY: You Matter! (Parashat Vayetze) Read More »
I was taking a walk the other day, feeling a little glum, when I noticed the ginkgo tree up the street. The sky was blue and the sun was shining on it just so, making its yellow leaves radiant and aglow. I stopped in wonder and thought, “Thank you, God, for this gift today.” I
SHORT ESSAY: The Sun Rises Just For You (Parashat Vayishlach) Read More »
The Torah says that Yitzhak loved Esav ki tzayid befiv, “because” of the hunting that Esav used to bring him to eat, while Rivka loved Yaakov. There is no reason attached to Rivka’s love; she simply loved him. The rabbis cite this love as an example of ahavah she’einah teluya badavar, a love that, unlike Yitzhak’s, is
SHORT ESSAY: Rivka’s Love (Parashat Toldot) Read More »
“Perhaps you will say in your heart: these nations are greater, more numerous, than I – how will I ever be able to drive them out (Deut. 7:17)?” Moshe understands that this is what the Israelites will feel at the prospect of the enormous task of conquering the land. The enemies, the obstacles, are too
SHORT ESSAY: Undaunted (Parashat Eikev) Read More »
This Shabbat is the ninth day of Av, and yet we do no mourning or fasting on it until the following day. There is a powerful message here. Tisha B’av speaks a certain kind of truth. It speaks the truth of judgment and sadness and suffering and destruction and disconnection and dislocation. And also the
SHORT ESSAY: On Shabbat and Tisha B’Av (Parashat Devarim and Tisha B’Av) Read More »