Omer Counting
04/24/2019 10:19:09 AM
Today is the fourth day of the Omer.
Wait... the fourth day of the what?
The Omer is the 49-day period between the second night of Pesach and the holiday of Shavuot. This period marks the beginning of the barley harvest when, in ancient times, Jews would...Read more...
Better the handle than the blade
04/16/2019 11:38:45 AM
There are journeys that our souls, collective and individual, need to take. Every year, the Jewish calendar comes to help us take those journeys.
Right now, we are just a few weeks past Purim, a tale of politics and power masquerading as a children's holiday with costumes and...Read more...
Thoughts for Pesach
04/03/2019 10:54:48 AM
Is there any more powerful symbol of the drama, history, complex theology and moral imperative of the Jewish people than Pesah (Passover)?
Passover is all about going forth from the narrow places that limit us, freeing our bodies, minds, and spirits, and...Read more...
Divine Movin' and Groovin'
03/26/2019 02:47:58 PM
Some of Judaism's original innovators were Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aaron the priest.
Back at the dedication of the ancient altar in the desert, which we read about in this week's parsha, Shemini, they offered "a strange fire" before the...Read more...
Anti Semitism is not about the Jews Alone
03/19/2019 11:29:19 AM
When official forms ask for my racial identity, I'm always a little bit flummoxed.
I know I'm not Asian or Pacific Islander, nor am I Black or Hispanic, but I'm not White, exactly, except when I am.
Which is to say, I don't really see myself...Read more...
The Future God
03/13/2019 10:30:39 AM
We all make mistakes - sometimes we know something is wrong, yet we do it anyway, unable to curb our desires and heed the better angels of our nature. Sometimes we do something which we thought was right and proper at the time we did...Read more...
Not One Bad Guy
03/05/2019 03:19:59 PM
Like all action movies, my personal favorite, Die Hard, has one nefarious villain. If only our brave and solitary hero can make it to his lair and destroy him in time, we will all be safe!
This sort of thinking is part of this political moment as...Read more...
Find Some Reason to Believe: Purim 2019
02/26/2019 11:19:17 AM
There can be something incredibly unromantic about Jewish holidays.
Far from inviting our feelings to flow naturally from the interior of our souls, the holidays can mandate how we are to feel. Yom Kippor comes and tells us to be...Read more...
Some Thoughts on Purim
02/20/2019 01:01:08 PM
We are exactly one month away from Purim - time to get ready!
At the most basic level, Purim is a raucous celebration of the story of Esther. In the biblical book of Esther, the Jews of ancient Persia faced certain annihilation, but they...Read more...
