When Circumstances Overwhelm, from Jerusalem to Charlotte
This past Friday, thousands of Scouts from the US and abroad spent more time than they expected to at the American Airlines’ Terminal in Charlotte, NC. Delays at an airport are no surprise; it happens to just about anyone who uses air transportation. What made this...
Gathering from the Fringes
V’asu la-hem tzitzit al canfei vig-deihem l’dorotam, v’natnu al tzitzit hakanaf p’til t’chelet. "And they shall make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments for all generations to come, and they will place among the fringes of the corner a thread of...
Blessing Those Who Bless Us
This week’s Torah reading, Naso, begins with God instructing Moses to take a census of the Levites between the ages of 30 and 50, who are responsible for the maintaining and transporting the Mishkan, the portable Sanctuary and its furnishings, in the wilderness....
Holiness for Mortals
What does it mean to be kadosh, “holy”? I always thought it meant that someone or something that was “holy” was special–perhaps better than–a person or thing that wasn’t. I’m not sure I knew what the opposite of holy was; perhaps it was “not so special.” In reality...
What Does a Soul Weigh?
As a rabbi and a Jew, the last thing I want to think about a week after Passover has ended–when I still haven’t finished putting away all the stuff–is Yom Kippur, but here we are, reading all about the ceremony that Aaron, the High Priest, would perform in order to...
Tzara-at-More Than Skin Deep
I’m reading an interesting book right now, called Treat Me, Not My Age, by Dr. Mark Lachs, as part of a certificate program in Gerontology and Palliative Care. Any of us who have made it into our 40s have most likely had a doctor dismiss one of our complaints with,...
Manna, Memory and Memento
This week’s Torah portion, Beshallach, begins with the Israelites crossing Yam Soof, the Red Sea (literally, the “Sea of Reeds”) and leaving Egypt behind. There are immediate difficulties, most specifically, a lack of water and of food, that prompt the Israelites to...
Frogs In His Nose, Frogs On Their Toes…
This week we read parashat Va-era, where God begins to send plagues to Egypt to convince Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. The first plague is dam, blood, and when that’s over, the same river brings forth tz'fardei'a, frogs. To the Egyptians, the frog was a symbol of...
Dying to Live Our Best Life
It could be said that our patriarch, Jacob, was the first person to create an ethical will, essentially, a spiritual bequest to his heirs. In this week’s Torah reading, Vayechi, which means, “and he–meaning Jacob–lived,” Jacob gathers his children together to bless...
Let the Light of Hanukkah Shine On
Hanukkah ends at sunset, but unlike the endings of Shabbat and festivals–when Havdalah marks the separation between the holy and the mundane–there’s no ritual to mark this ending, and I'd like to propose one. A chanukiah that uses candles has room for nine candles,...
When Dreams Come True
In this week’s Torah reading–Mikketz–Joseph is finally released from prison and brought to Pharaoh to interpret two dreams which none of Egypt’s magicians had been able to do. As I was reading the text this week, I realized that Pharaoh's dreams were repeated; first,...
Vayetze: Because Superheroes are Human Too
In honor of my bat mitzvah anniversary, and in memory of Stan Lee. When I began learning and studying Torah and other sacred Jewish texts as an adult, I had some trouble realizing and coming to terms with the fact that our biblical heroes were flawed, human...
A Change of Scenery Changes Us
This week we read the third portion in the book of Bereshit, Genesis, Lech L'cha, from the first sentence. Lech L'cha means, “go, go forth, go for–or to–yourself." As Freud is famous for saying, “sometimes a cigar is just a cigar,” and while from a linguistic...
The Tower of Babel – Ancient Team Building?
The story of the Tower of Babel takes up just 10 verses in this week’s Torah reading, sandwiched in between two long genealogical lists; the descendants of Noah preceding, and those of Shem following. If your eyes glaze over when you read these lists, you’re not...
A Water-Optional Tashlich
When I was young, “doing tashlich” meant walking down to the little brook in our front yard and throwing in bread crumbs. Whether or not that water was actually moving was unclear, but we performed the mitzvah the way we knew how. Over the years, I’ve “cast my wrongs...
Latest Sermons
Achare Mot: “I Can DO It Myself!”
Photo credit: Flickr.com, Kenny Holston, Whiteman fitness center Achare Mot: "I Can Do It Myself!" Years ago Joan Collins did a commercial for Jack LaLane Fitness Centers. She asked her butler to bring her her shoes and gym bag. When he asked if perhaps he should...
Life: The Luck Of The Draw
Image credit: pinging.com A few weeks ago, towards the end of Talmud Tractate Megilla, I wrote about various sages in the Talmud who lived to “old age,” whatever that meant 2,000 years ago, and to what they attributed their longevity. I noted my chuckle over one...
Vayechi: Spiritual Care For The Dying
Photo Credit: D-Gernz on Flickr This week’s Torah reading, Vayechi, begins by telling us that our patriarch Jacob, “lived 17 years in the land of Egypt,” once he had been reunited with his beloved son, Joseph. This sentence sets the stage for the end of the...
Latest Midrash HaZak
Ha’Azinu: Poetry, Prose and Passing Time
Photo Credit: flickr.com/photos/mricon/8922711 Ha'Azinu: Poetry, Prose and Passing Time Rabbi Stephen Axinn Governor Mario Cuomo of New York once quipped that “we campaign in poetry but govern in prose.” However, for Moses, that adage worked in reverse. How so? When...
Ekev: Standing on their Shoulders
Credit: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Buff_Bill's_Circus Parashat Ekev Rabbi Arnie Samlan Ekev, the third reading in the book of Devarim (Deuteronomy), is a continuation of Moses’ farewell address to the Israelite nation poised to enter the Promised Land....
VaEtchanan: Rav Lach, It Is Enough For You
Photo by Rabbi Susan Elkodsi Va’Etchanan: Rav Lach, It is enough for you Rabbi Janet Madden, Ph.D Parshat Va’Etchanan opens with Moshe’s recounting to the new generation of Israelites that he pleaded with the Holy One to allow him to enter the Land of Israel. He...
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