As a pulpit rabbi, part of my job is to take our ancient, sacred texts, like the Torah, and make them relevant for who we are and how we live today. Sometimes it feels like a stretch, but as has been said, “turn it and turn it, for everything is in it.” (Avot d’Rabbi...
This week’s Torah reading–Toledot–contains the famous story of Isaac “unknowingly” bestowing his blessing for Esau on Jacob. The text tells us that “Isaac was old, and his eyes were too weak to see,” so it’s easy to assume that this meant he was blind, or at least...
“You shall not behave the way we do here this day, everyone doing what they please.” Doesn’t this verse from Deuteronomy sound like a biblical version of a parent saying to a child, “you’re not going to act this way at Grandma’s house, are you?” And as I write it, I...
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....
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...
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