"A Day Without Laughter is a Day Wasted" -Charlie Chaplin
10/20/2021 04:35:44 PM
“…so Sarah laughed inwardly…” (Genesis 18:12).
In this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Vayeira, Abraham and Sarah learn that they will soon become parents. At the ages of 90 and 95. Honestly, if I was Sarah, I would have laughed, too! It’s hard to imagine doing anything strenuous at the age of 90, let alone have a baby.
And so, Sarah...Read more...
"Gosh, I don't know, I'll have to think about that..."
10/14/2021 09:43:08 AM
Happy Thursday, Everyone,
In Saturday morning's Torah portion, Lech Lecha, meaning, "go forth," God famously instructs Abram and his wife, Sarai, "Go forth from your land, your birthplace and your ancestral home (literally, "your father's house") to the land that I will show you."
We experience many kinds of leave-taking in the course of a lifetime. And as it was for Abram and Sarai, so it is for us. The destination – "the...Read more...
"Fill Your Words With Radiance"
10/07/2021 02:33:55 PM
Some of the most beautiful and interesting Jewish commentaries on verses of Torah grow out of the fact that the meaning of certain Hebrew words has changed over time. For example, the Hebrew word Nefesh means "life, person, breath or individual" in the Torah, but by the time Rashi and the other greats are explaining the deeper meanings of the text in the middle ages, the word Nefesh has come to mean "soul." This opens the door to a lot of...Read more...
Creation and Creativity
09/29/2021 05:40:47 PM
בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃
When God began to create (or “In the beginning God created.”) heaven and earth— Genesis 1:1
Here we stand at the beginning of a new cycle of Torah. On Monday evening Rabbi Folberg read the end of Devarim (Deuteronomy) and Rabbi Levy read from the beginning of...Read more...
Sukkot- A Time For Joy
09/22/2021 12:50:56 PM
Zaman Simchateinu, Moadim L’Simcha, Chag Sameach, Happy Sukkot! We have so many ways of greeting one another during this holiday, and all express the joy we find during the “Feast of Booths.” Sukkot, one of the Shalosh Regalim (the pilgrimage festivals) celebrates the fall harvest and reminds us of our ancestors’ travels through the desert.
There is something sweet and...Read more...
Bring the Children
09/09/2021 06:06:17 PM
Several years ago, Jerry Seinfeld related what he called “the greatest Jew joke” he had ever heard: “Two gentile businessman meet on the street. One of them says, ‘How’s business?’ The other one says, ‘Great!'” The point of Seinfeld’s joke is if the businessmen had been Jews, they would have found something to complain about.
In my line of work it is not unusual for me to find myself the recipient of complaints by...Read more...
Hin'ni - Here I Am
09/01/2021 04:28:16 PM
Today is September 1st. In just 5 days we will officially bid farewell to 5781 and welcome in 5782.
We have been taking time, during the month of Elul, to prepare ourselves for the holy weeks ahead. The work of Cheshbon Hanefesh, the “accounting of our souls” is serious and important work. According to the article linked in the words above we human beings come equipped with the...Read more...
The Beginning of the Chagim
08/24/2021 02:00:11 PM
I have a distinct memory from childhood of sitting in the sanctuary of my synagogue very late at night, with the lights dimmed low, holding a melting candle in my hand. I listened to the haunting music, and I watched the rabbis, wearing long, white robes, carrying the white Torah covers onto the Bimah. I observed the flame from my candle glinting across the stain glass windows, and I wondered what we were doing in...Read more...
Al shlosha d’varim ha-olam omed. “On three things the world stands…”
08/17/2021 10:09:10 PM
Our Torah portion for this week, Ki Teitzei, contains 74 commandments, more than any other parashah. These commandments in this parashah deal with a variety of subjects including family, treatment of animals, and business ethics, concluding with the commandment to remember Amalek’s killing of the old, weak, and infirm during the Israelites’ travels in the desert. The specific subjects of these commandments are diverse, but a common theme...Read more...
Experiencing Elul through words, our breath
08/10/2021 02:52:08 PM
This past Sunday evening we welcomed in the Hebrew month of Elul. With a very new moon in the sky, we know that we are now just 4 weeks from Rosh Hashanah, the head of the New Year. If you haven’t read Rabbi Levy’s blog from last week, then I suggest you do so now. She lays out a wonderful plan of doing the work this month demands of us through our senses.
Her first suggestion...Read more...
Preparing our Bodies and Souls
08/03/2021 11:32:19 AM
It may be hard to believe, especially with the intensity of the summer heat at an all time high, but fall is just around the corner. And with it, we can all look forward to slightly cooler days, a new school year, and of course, the High Holy Days. The end of summer also means that the new Hebrew month of Elul begins this Sunday. Elul, the month that immediately precedes the High Holy Days, offers each of us the opportunity for...Read more...
