A devout Jew heard of another devout Jew asking his rabbi if he should fast during YK, due to a medical condition that required fluids and some food each day. “Rabbi,” the first one said, “aren’t you being too maikil, too lax, by allowing someone to eat during this...
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...
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...
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....
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...
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...
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