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Vayehi: Jacob’s End-of-Life Wisdom
The concluding chapters of Genesis offer a relevant model for “conscious living and dying” today. Living in a death-denying culture, we can learn a great deal from Jacob and Joseph to help us deal more openly with the end-of-life journey and with grief in our families and communities.
Lessons Learned from Noah’s Ark: Let Your Inner Light Radiate to Others
The Torah often vacillates between explicit details and leaving much to the imagination. God approaches Noach and tells him to build an ark in order to save himself, his family, and dyads and septets of the animal kingdom. There are detailed instructions about the materials to be used and the size of the ark. And there is both a door and a window mentioned
VaYigash: Was It All A Foregone Conclusion?
VaYigash: Was It All A Foregone Conclusion? Rabbi Richard F. Address, D. Min. Vayigash is one of the great portions of Torah. The central scene is the revelation by Joseph to his brothers. It is a moment of Torah that is filled with drama, pathos and the reality that,...
Vayeshev: Settling Down, Never Stopping
We can never retire from life’s spiritual challenges because it is when we “retire” that we are truly best able to rise to those challenges. As we do, we not only confront them for ourselves, but we become the teachers of our children and our grandchildren.
Vayishlach: What Do We Wrestle With?
Throughout my life, I have found inspiration and guidance from its messages. So, in considering two questions; “How can we live until we die?” and “How can Torah help us do that?”Vayishlach provides great answers.
Va-yetze: Leaving Home
Parashat Va-yetze: Leaving Home Rabbi Stephen Lewis Fuchs “And he left,” ויצא (Genesis 28:10) “And Jacob left,” home. As I look back over my life, and the life and career of our patriarch Jacob, the day we each left home marked pivotal turning points in our lives....
Toledot: Sight And Vision As We Age
Parshat Toldot is the first portion in the Torah which contains the themes of disability and aging. Specifically, we will examine how these themes affected Isaac’s parenting and, in the process, changed the trajectory of the lives of Rebecca and Isaac’s twin sons, Jacob and Esau.
VaYera: Is Our Story Abraham’s?
No, Abraham’s family is no model of perfect family dynamics. But then again, how many are? As we age and review our own lives, how many of us can see elements of our experiences within this parashah?
Lech Lecha: The Journey of The Next Chapter
Lech Lecha, go for your own benefit, for your own good. Go for yourself and to yourself
Bereshit: Two Stories
Rabbi Katy Allen looks at what we bring forth from ourselves at different stages of our lives, much the way G!d brought forth creation.
Nitzavim–Choose Life!
CHOOSE LIFE! by Jill Minkoff We/I again read Nitzavim. The words are the same each time we/I read it. That’s a fact! And yet, there are so many variables that go into the actual experience and impact this reading has on me, and perhaps you as well. Sometimes, it’s a...
Achare Mot and Yom Kippur: The Book of Life and The Book of Death
We do not know what happens after a person dies. Jewish tradition proclaims that Rosh Hashanah initiates a short period of judgment that is completed by Yom Kippur. In the words of the ancient Rabbis, on Rosh Hashanah two books are opened before God…
Waiting for the Second Marshmallow
Waiting for the Second Marshmallow, Shabbat Vayikra by Rav Edmond H Weiss, Ph.D. It is still embarrassing, even after studying for so many decades, to remember that, until the destruction of the Second Temple, our principal channel of communication with Israel’s God...
Parshas Vayeilech: Dying with Dignity and Purpose
Parshas Vayeilech: Dying with Dignity and Purpose by Dr. Aaron Kershenbaum photo from pxhere.com, Robin Jacob I have, from time to time wondered why God chose Moses to serve in his unique role as the giver of the Torah and the person who led the Jewish People to the...
Chaye Sarah-To Be A Blessing
Chaye Sarah-To Be A Blessing By Rabbi Maralee Gordon My mother told the story of how her parents called her up and announced that they had just bought a condo. “You bought a condo?!” she exclaimed, puzzled. They talked on the phone every day but they hadn’t shared a...
Latest Sermons
Kindness
Kol Nidre, 5783 On Rosh Hashanah, we began our prayers in the hopes of moving God, the Holy Blessed One, from kisei din, the throne or seat of judgment, to kisei rachamim, the throne or seat of compassion. Ten days later, here we are at the eve of Yom Kippur,...
Shema: Listening, Hearing and the Shofar
Rosh Hashanah 5783, Day 2 The word, “Shema.” What do you think of when you hear it? Usually, we think of “The Shema” as the verses we chant or sing from the book of Devarim, Deuteronomy, and in that context, it’s a bold theological statement. It is an idea which goes...
A Time For fixing, A Time for Finishing
A needle felt project the author finished. Rosh Hashanah Day 1, 5783 A Time for Fixing and a Time for Finishing As I sit in my home, I hear things calling to me. Often, they’re coated in chocolate, but not always. More often, they’re unfinished projects, clutter,...
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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