I noticed the other day, as I was making a personal petition to God, that what I was praying for was that God should help me accomplish my goals. Suddenly such prayer seemed very wrong, almost idolatrous, as if instead of worshipping God, I was worshipping my own ambitions/desires, and subordinating God, too, to this […]
SHORT ESSAY: Aligning with the Divine (Parashat Vayishlach) Read More »
“Under His feet there was the likeness of a pavement of sapphire, like the very sky for purity” (24:10). This description of a vision of God appears in this week’s parsha, alongside its many laws. “A pavement of sapphire” in Hebrew reads, livnat hasapir. Rashi, quoting the midrash, says that this levaynah, “pavement” or “brick,” was at
SHORT ESSAY: The Blue that Binds Us (Parashat Mishpatim) Read More »
This week’s parsha details the creation of a mishkan, a holy space for God to dwell on this earth. Ve’asu li mikdash veshahanti betokham. They should make for Me a sanctuary and I will dwell in their midst. How can we draw down God’s Presence to this earth? In the Mishkan God’s voice would come from between
SHORT ESSAY: God Dwells where We Turn Towards Each Other (Parashat Terumah) Read More »
What is the difference between being “heavy (or hard) of heart,” kevad lev, as Pharaoh is, and being “heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue,” kevad peh vekevad lashon, as Moshe is? Both heavy, one in a harmful way, one in a successful way – what’s the difference? My son Medad says that the heart has to
SHORT ESSAY: Different Kinds of heaviness (Parashat Bo) Read More »
The two parshiyyot in the book of Breishit whose topic is death are both called by names that indicate life: Hayei Sarah, in which Sarah, Avraham and Ishmael die, and this week’s parsha, Vayehi, in which Yaakov dies. At the very moment that we acknowledge that these ancestors died, we also proclaim something about their lives, something
SHORT ESSAY: Gifts From Our Parents (Parashat Vayechi) Read More »
Et Ahai Anokhi Mevakesh. “It is my brothers that I am seeking,” says Yosef to the mysterious “man” who helps him along his way when he is sent out by his father to check on his brothers. This statement seems a deep truth about the Yosef story as a whole. The seeking of brotherhood drives
SHORT ESSAY: On Seeking Brotherhood (Parashat Vayeshev) Read More »
The kind of unity they were engaged in was a unity of sameness. The kind that we strive for is a unity built out of love. (Click image to read more)
SHORT ESSAY: On Unity and Love (Parashat Noah) Read More »
Imagine the high the Israelites felt at the Red Sea – a joy born of overwhelming relief and a clarity of gratitude and faith in life, in God, in all that is good — such joy, washing over them like the waters of the Sea, rising up in them as waves of jubilant song. But
SHORT ESSAY: In the Aftermath of Song (Parashat Beshalach) Read More »
Something changes about the Torah’s narrative in the middle of this week’s parsha. For 9 plagues we have followed the story as it unfolds in the normal narrative time of Egypt – with its warning speeches to Pharaoh, description of the plagues and their repercussions, and the continual hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. Now suddenly, on
SHORT ESSAY: On Freedom and eternity (Parashat Bo) Read More »
God first appeared (last week) to Moshe as a burning bush. Maybe this was a test: What made God decide to speak to him, to choose him as His partner on earth? “Moshe said: I must turn aside to look at this marvelous sight; why doesn’t the bush burn up?” It was Moshe’s ability to
SHORT ESSAY: Turning Aside to See the Miracle (Parashat Va’era) Read More »