I once heard the following story… It was one of those years when baseball’s World Series coincided with Yom Kippur. A man, a good Jew was having a serious spiritual crisis about the issue. So he went to his rabbi and said, “I know that Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the year and that the Kol Nidrei prayer
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Today I want to talk to you about Joy as a spiritual practice. Let’s start with a story. A man walks into a shoe store, and a friendly sales clerk approaches him. “What can I do for you today, sir?” “I’d like a pair of black shoes like the ones in the window.” “Certainly, sir. Let’s see, you must
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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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This week we read Parashat Shoftim. This Torah portion introduces us to one of the bases of our social system: Judges – Shoftim – and Shotrim – the law enforcement. Immediately afterward, Torah introduces a very famous verse that brings justice to a different level: Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof – Justice, justice you shall pursue. Our Rabbis say that there must
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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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The Rabbis ask in the Pesikta d’Rav Kahana: Why was the Torah given in the desert? To teach us that if a person does not surrender himself to it like the desert, he cannot merit the words of Torah. And to teach us that just as the desert is endless, so is the Torah without end. This week we are
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Teach me my God to bless, to pray On the mystery of the withered leaf, on the splendor of ripe fruit, On the freedom to see, to feel, to breathe, To know, to wish, to fail. Teach my lips blessing and song of praise, Renewing your time each morning, each night, Lest my day today be as yesterday Lest my
Read moreSo, let’s start by thinking about the methodology and the idea behind the Seder. This, the seder, night will be a very interesting collage and representation of our fantasies as well as our way of life, and by that I mean ethics and values and finally who we want to be, our vision and our dreams. If you look at
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Choosing a topic for a D’var Torah wasn’t an easy task this week. This week we read Parashat Tzav, which this year, because it’s a leap year, falls in the month of Adar, so tomorrow in addition to Parashat Tzav we will read Parashat Parah. This week we all have in mind the tragedy and the horror that filled
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Po Ve Sham 