Finding Wholeness in Brokenness
This past week during Shabbat services (10 am prayer and song; 10:45 Torah study, every week at this link) we studied Parashat Mishpatim, the Torah portion known as Mishpatim which means rules or enactments—a fitting title because this is the point in our Torah where the majority of the text shifts from narrative to law. Judaism is, after all, a […]
What Happened at Sinai and How It Impacts Us
This past week on Shabbat we encountered that sacred moment in our Torah when the Israelites find themselves at the base of Mt. Sinai, about to enter the eternal covenant with the Source of All Existence. Every imaginable sensation takes place to set the scene for this moment. “[A]s morning dawned, there was thunder, and […]
What Crossing the Sea Really Means
This past Shabbat we reviewed the parashah (Torah portion) featuring that ever-climactic moment in our sacred history: the crossing of the sea in culmination of our exodus from Egypt. And I say “our” very deliberately here. The crossing of the sea happened not only for our ancestors, but for us. Perhaps the central words of our annual […]
Tu BiShvat—the New Year for Trees—is Here!
Tu BiShvat higia; hag ha’ilanot! These popular song lyrics translate to, “Tu BiShvat is here! The festival of trees!” Festival of trees? What could this even mean? Well, it derives from the mishnah, that Jewish sacred text that served, in a sense, as the next entry in the Jewish sacred canon after the Torah. In one passage, the mishnah refers […]
Inauguration Day: Teachings from Our Sages
I write this weekly d’var torah message on an historic day. For the 46th time in our nation’s nearly 245-year history, we have inaugurated a new leader of our republic, one duly elected by our citizens through millions of sacred acts of democracy. Many observations have been and will be made about this precious moment, so I will […]