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. […]
MEDITATION: Moving Out of Idolatry Into Our Divine Abundance (Parashat Vayakhel) Read More »
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.
ESSAY: God’s Steady Ner Tamid Presence — And Our Own (Parashat Tetzaveh) Read More »
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
MEDITATION: God’s Steady Ner Tamid Presence — and Our Own (Parashat Tetzaveh) Read More »
God is looking for a residence on earth, always looking for a residence in each of us, knocking on our door, saying – can I live inside you? The instruction to construct the mishkan, the tabernacle, in our parsha is phrased in this way: Ve’asu li mikdash veshakhanti betokham (Exodus 25:8). They should make for
ESSAY: Becoming a Sanctuary for the Divine Presence (Parashat Terumah) Read More »
“They should make for Me a sanctuary and I will dwell in their midst” (Exodus 25:8). “In their midst” [betokham] — inside each one of us. We interpret this as an instruction to each of us to create an internal sanctuary — God desires to reside inside us. In this meditation, we explore how to
MEDITATION: Becoming a Sanctuary for the Divine Presence (Parashat Terumah) Read More »
It’s as if all of creation was waiting for us to learn to add nishma to na’aseh, to add listening to doing. In this week’s parsha, the covenant with God at Sinai continues to be processed and expanded, and it is here that we find the Israelites offering their famous response to this covenant –
ESSAY: Becoming Listeners in Addition to Doers (Parashat Mishpatim) Read More »
“Na’aseh Venishma,” we will do and we will listen, the Israelites famously respond to the covenant at Sinai. God wants us to become listeners in addition to doers. (Click image to read more)
MEDITATION: Becoming Listeners In Addition to Doers (Parashat Mishpatim) Read More »
What would it feel like to have God offering you support in claiming your voice, helping you to amplify it and strengthen it so that you can speak your piece of the divine truth into the world? God offered Moshe that kind of support at Mount Sinai. In the midst of the thunder and lightning
ESSAY: God’s Support For Moshe’s Voice and Our Own (Parashat Yitro) Read More »
Love is “the will to extend oneself for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another person’s spiritual growth.” (Click on image to read more and listen)
MEDITATION: God’s Support for Moshe’s Voice And Our Own (Parashat Yitro) Read More »
We search for the strength to face what is difficult right now and not fall into the collapsing energies of fear and despair. Ozi vezimrat Yah. “The Lord is my strength and song (Exodus 15:2),” the Israelites sang after their salvation at the Red Sea. They knew something about facing impossible situations. My Strength
ESSAY: Your Strength and Your Song (Parashat Beshalach) Read More »