The Torah portion for this week, Tetsaveh, literally “means you shall command.” It contains the remainder of the divine instruction for the building and operation of the Mishkan, the unique tabernacle in which Hashem promises to dwell with Israel during…
Accepting Our Heritage
It has been said that the life of Moses can be seen as three distinct movements, forty years each. First Moses spends the first forty years thinking he is somebody. He has fallen by providence into the royal court of…
Tish B’Av – A View From the Rubble
People don’t get along all of the time. We are often tired or stressed out and it can be hard to keep our cool when someone cuts us off on the highway during the commute, let their kids run amuck…
Purim, the Church and Jewish Marginality
This is a “leap year” for Israel’s lunar calendar. The Jewish “leap year”, which occurs seven times in a 19-year cycle, has 13 months instead of the regular year’s 12. This is so that the lunar-based Jewish year should remain…
Chaya’s Bat Mitzvah Speech
This past Shabbat we had an adult Bat Mitzvah at congregation Shuvah Yisrael. What made this so unique is that the Bat Mitzvah, Chaya Levy had converted to Judaism decades ago. In her drash Chaya shares from her Torah, Haftarah…
First Entry; Good News for a Change
As is normally the case with the first entry on a blog few will take notice of this post. But it is important to me since it is helpful in organizing my own thoughts and articulating a purpose for this…