Parsha

ESSAY: Tzitzit: Remembering Who We Are (Parashat Shelach)

Stay steady with God’s gaze upon you. See yourself as God see you and remember who you really are. (Click image to read more)

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MEDITATION: Tzitzit: Remembering Who We are (Parashat Shelach)

In this meditation, we look at the mitzvah of tzitzit as a symbol of our “tie” to God and as a reminder of who we really are in our divine essence and of the loving way in which God continually gazes upon us. Sources:Numbers 15:38-39Sefat Emet, Shelach 5635 (4:6)Psalms 97:11Midrash Tanchuma Shelach 15:1Rashi on Numbers

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ESSAY: The Twin Powers of Arising and Returning (Parashat Beha’alotecha)

We cannot offer them anything if we are enmeshed with them, if we have collapsed into their despair and fear and hatred. (Click image to read more)

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MEDITATION: The Twin Powers of Arising and Returning (Parashat Beha’alotecha)

In this meditation, we look at the passage of vayehi beneso’a ha’aron as offering a healing mode in two parts. The first part, kumah — arising, involves empowering and separating from the difficult forces around us, the “haters” that are scattered by God’s power. The second part — shuvah — returning, involves turning back in

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ESSAY: Gevurah: The Strength To Be In Charge of Yourself (Sefirat HaOmer and Parashat Shemini)

You are not your feelings. You are the leader who tends to them. (Click image to read more)

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MEDITATION: Gevurah: The Strength To Be In Charge Of Yourself (Sefirat HaOmer and Parashat Shemini)

This week, the second week of the Omer, is traditionally associated with the divine attribute of Gevurah, strength. In this meditation, we look at this attribute as our internal capacity for strong self leadership, taking back — from forces like the inner critic — the power to choose our own direction and live into our

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ESSAY: Moving Out Of Idolatry Into Our Divine Abundance (Parashat Vayakhel)

The problem with idolatry is not just that it limits who God is, but also that it limits who we are as reflections of God.  When we have idols, we, too, become more limited.  In Hallel, we say that idols can’t see or hear or move, and  –  “so, too, are those who make them,

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MEDITATION: Moving Out of Idolatry Into Our Divine Abundance (Parashat Vayakhel)

The problem with idolatry is not just that it limits who God is, but also that it limits who we are as reflections of God. In this meditation, we compare the narrowness of the golden calf venture to the expansiveness of the building of the tabernacle, with its kaleidoscope of color and texture and scent.

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ESSAY: God’s Steady Ner Tamid Presence — And Our Own (Parashat Tetzaveh)

If God is willing to stay with me, who am I to abandon myself? At the start of our parsha, there is a command to bring oil for lighting the Ner Tamid, the “eternal light,” each evening to last through the night (Exodus 27:20).  Tamid means doing something regularly, consistently, dependably, with constancy.  Always there.  

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MEDITATION: God’s Steady Ner Tamid Presence — and Our Own (Parashat Tetzaveh)

In this meditation, we look at the Ner Tamid as a symbol of God’s steady presence with us, even through the dark night of our suffering, and even through “the vinegar” of our mistakes. Thorough stories and images, we explore how it would feel to open to that fierce steadfastness and to cultivate it in

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