The Sacredness of now / from emergency to crisis
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Curing the World’s Social Pandemic
Learn what Jewish tradtion says thing and being mass spreaders of healing.
Read moreMixed Feelings Aside, We Pray: Black Lives Matter / My Take on Beha’alotecha
While I don’t think I know a Jew who isn’t opposed to racism and who doesn’t feel a deep connection and moral obligation toward the injustice that African Americans experience, many of us feel deeply conflicted with the movement “Black Lives Matter”. Many of us, myself included, felt deeply hurt by the statements in the political platform of this movement against Israel. There is an article that was published in The Atlantic in 2016 that summarizes several of the responses that the Jewish community then offered. During the last couple of weeks in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder many Rabbis and thinkers have written about their position regarding how to navigate this tension.
Read moreBetween (Biblical) Egypt and (Today’s) Australia: Stubbornness and narrow-mindedness / Discover Who Pharaoh Really is! #Va’era
This week I watched the news coming from Australia: golf-ball-size hail and massive dust storms hitting rural and urban areas alike. It’s been a rough couple of weeks weather-wise. Now it’s hail and dust but Australia isn’t done yet with the terrible fires that have lashed its territory, killing more than 30 people, tens of thousands of animals, and destroying
Read moreIt’s not what you think! But it is! #Parashat Re’eh
Deuteronomy 11: 26-28 רְאֵ֗ה אָנֹכִ֛י נֹתֵ֥ן לִפְנֵיכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם בְּרָכָ֖ה וּקְלָלָֽה׃אֶֽת־הַבְּרָכָ֑ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר תִּשְׁמְע֗וּ אֶל־מִצְוֺת֙ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֧ר אָנֹכִ֛י מְצַוֶּ֥ה אֶתְכֶ֖ם הַיּֽוֹם׃ וְהַקְּלָלָ֗ה אִם־לֹ֤א תִשְׁמְעוּ֙ אֶל־מִצְוֺת֙ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֔ם וְסַרְתֶּ֣ם מִן־הַדֶּ֔רֶךְ אֲשֶׁ֧ר אָנֹכִ֛י מְצַוֶּ֥ה אֶתְכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם… See, this day I set before you, blessing and curse: blessing, that you listen to the commandments of Adonai your God that I enjoin upon you this
Read moreRedemption and Renewal /A reflection on Parashat Metzorah & Shabbat Hagadol
“Passover preparations should go beyond Matzoh balls and Gefilte Fish; Now is the season to prepare our spirits and to dedicate the time to recognize what are our lesions and wounds, what are the painful marks that are gradually covering your essence and becoming your identity.” Parashat Metzora speaks about the Tzara’at, a disfiguring skin disease, but which is also
Read moreParashat Pekudei/ The Cloud of Uncertainty a
One of the most rewarding things that we experience, is when you finalize a work, to look at it and to rejoice in that creation! This Torah portion, Parashat Pekudei, is indeed that rewarding moment. The Ohel Moed – the tent of meeting that surrounds the Tabernacle is ready, the garments for the priest are ready and all the
Read moreYou Shall Forget! My Take on parashat Ki Tisa
How many of you complain about forgetting things? We usually think about memory as a purely positive value and forgetfulness as a negative one. It turns out that in Jewish tradition these two values are a bit more nuanced. In this week’s Torah portion, Parashat “Ki Tisa”, we learn about Moses descending from Mt Sinai with the tablets of the
Read more“They Spoke the Same Words” – Uniformity is not unity!
The story of the Tower of Babel is one of the most famous and in my opinion misinterpreted stories in the bible. Genesis 11:1-9 וַֽיְהִ֥י כָל־הָאָ֖רֶץ שָׂפָ֣ה אֶחָ֑ת וּדְבָרִ֖ים אֲחָדִֽים׃ Everyone on earth had the same language and the same words. And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a valley in the land of Shinar and
Read moreTorah: Something to live by /#metoo
Parashat V’zot Habracha 5779-2018 V’zot Habracha…FOOTNOTE: Footnote This is the blessing that Moses the man of God pronounced for the Israelites before his death.3 Surely it is you who love the people; all the holy ones are in your hand. At your feet they all bow down,and from you they receive your instruction,4 the Torah Moshe commanded us as an
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