Jerusalem isn’t just the physical entity of a city. Jerusalem is a concept that evokes our spiritual aspiration for unity. In Tisha B’Av, as we commemorate the destruction of the Earthly Jerusalem, we also recognize the beginning of a spiritual exile. Through the text we connect with the tears of our ancestors, weeping by the waters of Babylon and yearning
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Taking the Time: Parashat Yitro 5779/2019 This week while trying to get an idea for a Tu’bshvat inspired Shabbat dinner I bumped into an article that compared between the traditional Jewish dish Cholent made over 16 hours and Cholent made in the instant pot. The conclusion was clear, the instant one doesn’t work. http://foodaism.com/instant-pot-cholent-v-le-creuset-cholent/ Once we used to think about
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We are starting again a cycle of Torah reading. Jewish tradition teaches us That Elohim- God created “iesh mi’ayin, which means that the beginning of existence came out of nothing. Again, we are reading the Book of Genesis, but can we really do that like we came out of nothing? When we start to read Torah we are not a
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…The chief of the police asked: “How am I to understand that God, who is omniscient, asks Adam, ‘Where are you?’” The rabbi replied: “Do you believe that scripture is eternal and encompasses every age, every generation, and every person?” —- “Well now,” said the Zaddik, “in every age God addresses every person with the question, ‘Where are you in
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Life without Teshuva is like being condemned to dwell in Plato’s allegorical Cave… It is to perceive the world under a mechanism that makes me believe that the shadows and echoes projected on the wall of my ego they are the reality. The month of Elul reminds me that sometimes all I can see is that wall; reflections but not
Read moreSee, I set before you today a blessing and a curse. ורְאֵ֗ה אָֽנֹכִ֛י נֹתֵ֥ן לִפְנֵיכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם בְּרָכָ֖ה וּקְלָלָֽה: Deu 11:26 Over the last couple of days it feels like a curse is threatening our society. We have been watching TV, reading newspapers, hearing stories from friends…. The images and the stories coming from Charlottesville in 2017 look like
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Reading from the Book of Kings for this week’s Haftarah: “And the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as He had promised him, and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and they both made a league together”. How interesting it is that peace comes from WISDOM and not from righteousness! Apparently Amichai knew what he was talking about…. The Place
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You came to me, to open my eyes. To me your body was a view, A window and a mirror. You came as night comes to the owl To show him, in the darkness, all things. And I learned: There’s a name For each eyelash and fingernail, And for every hair on the exposed flesh. And the scent
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Ma tovu ohalecha Yaakov kishkenotecha Yisrael! How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, thy dwellings, O Israel!
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Po Ve Sham 