Ki Tavo: What Are We Really Afraid Of?
In this week’s Torah reading, Ki Tavo, we have what’s called the Tochecha, the curses or the rebukes; essentially, the terrible things that will happen if the Israelites, once settled in the Promised Land, don’t follow God’s commandments.
Ki Tetze: A Divine Invitation to Challenge
Parashat Ki Tetze is one of my favorites–not because of the litany of seemingly unrelated, and in some cases, harsh laws, but because it contains the first topic I studied in my “Intro to Mishnah” class in rabbinical school.
Seeing and Appearing
How one person understands something may be different than the person standing next to them. We each “see” things through our own unique lenses, even though we’re all looking at the same thing.
A Prayer and a Pitchfork
How did the rabbis of the Talmud think? What can we learn from them?
Eicha and Lamentations-Giving Structure to Grief
In “To Life, L’Chaim” from “Fiddler On The Roof,” the villagers of Anatevka sing, “God would like us to be joyful even when our hearts lie panting on the floor.” And as we head into Shabbat and Tisha B’Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar, these lyrics certainly seem counterintuitive.
Tisha B’Av-Mourning and Memory
Tisha B’Av, the 9th day of the Hebrew month of Av, is a day of national and collective mourning for the Jewish people.
The Challenges of Leadership
A record (remember those?) I used to listen to was called “You Don’t Have to Be Jewish” by Bob Booker and George Foster. At about the 12-minute mark is a sketch called, “The Presidents.” LBJ welcomes “the President of Israel” who acknowledges that Johnson is president...
Is It Better This Way Or This Way?
It’s time for a new pair of glasses with a new prescription, and that started me thinking about this week’s Torah reading, Shelach Lecha. It begins with God telling Moses to send 12 men, one from each of the tribes, to see or scout out the land that the Israelites...
Where Would You Like To Sit, Under My Vine Or My Fig Tree?
This Shabbat, we read from the prophet Zecharaiah, whose prophecy occurred during the time of King Darius of Persia. At this point in our history, some of the Jews who had been living in exile in Babylonia had returned to the land of Israel–rejoining the small remnant...
Ruth, Roosevelt and Righting the Wrongs of the Past
A few weeks ago, my husband and I visited the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan, a place neither of us had been since childhood. Based on many of the exhibits we saw, I’m not sure how much has changed since then, although Pluto was still considered a...
Who Can You Trust?
I’ve never subscribed to the idea that illness and misfortune are Divine retribution for sins, and while our sacred texts–especially the Prophets–clearly relate bad things that happen to the people Israel’s sinful behavior, I don't feel Jewish theology supports this....
Trouble for the Kohen with Trouble
This Shabbat we read parashat Emor, which includes a discussion about certain physical conditions that disqualify a kohen from performing his sacrificial duties. Leviticus 21:17-23 list these conditions–blemishes, limps, a hunchback, a broken arm or leg, and a...
Tazria-Metzora, Life In The Balance
One of my favorite TV shows is the BBC’s “Call The Midwife,” and waiting until October for the next season to start is a bit excruciating for me. Set in the late 1950s and 1960s, the show focuses on a group of women who serve as midwifes for an underprivileged...
Breaking Free, Breaking News?
“We interrupt this program to bring you this special bulletin….” Remember those? And in the days before DVRs,you couldn’t get back what you missed of the show! This Shabbat, we interrupt your annual Torah reading cycle for a special reading. Instead of moving...
Don’t Be A Slave To The Text!
If you go to the terrific website, haggadot.com, you can download and customize hundreds of Haggadot for use at your seder, or just for fun. There’s a Schitt’s Creek Haggadah, a 10-Minute Dayenu Seder for use with young children, coloring pages and yes, traditional...
Latest Sermons
Mindfulness-Erev Rosh Hashanah 5784
A few months ago, a couple of my colleagues mentioned using an app called Ten Percent Happier, by former ABC news anchor Dan Harris, for meditation and mindfulness. No, he’s not paying me to talk about the app, or the benefits of meditation, and even though one of his...
Eikev: Mindfully Eating Our Fill
Photo credit: Rabbi Susan Elkodsi, 2021 One of my first classes in rabbinical school at AJR was “Contemplative Practice” with Rabbi Jill Hammer. One of the assignments had to do with “mindful eating,” where you take a small food item–perhaps a grape or raisin– look at...
Yom Kippur: Hope, Despair And A Shining Sun
Yom Kippur 5783 Like many of the quotes and poems that make their way into use, a poem attributed to an anonymous person in a concentration camp, or in hiding, became somewhat of an urban legend, and has often been taken out of context, as well as not accurately...
Latest Midrash HaZak
Kedoshim: Coming of Age in Holiness
Photo and art by Rabbi Susan Elkodsi Kedoshim: Coming of Age in Holiness Rabbi Dr. Jill Hackell As I move through my 70s I find myself increasingly aware of my “senior” status in our society. Suddenly, by virtue of my age I am in a category that labels me vulnerable–I...
Parasha Vayakhel: A Mirror of the Holy Whole
Parasha Vayakhel: A Mirror of the Holy Whole Cherie Karo Schwartz My Mom, Dotty Karo of blessed memory, was an ultimate crafter. She had a room stuffed with kaleidoscope-colored treasures she’d collected or had been gifted by...
Ki Tavo: Entering the Land and a New Age
Ki Tavo: Entering the Land and a New Age Charles Goldman This midrash speaks to me. Just as the people of Israel were about to embark on the next mega steps of their lives in the Holy Land, and Moses was intoning to them that they have “a heart to know, eyes to see,...
Latest Personal Blogs
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