In just a few days, the shofar will sound, Rosh Hashanah will dawn, and the Days of Awe will open before us. The Jewish calendar, in its divine wisdom, does not wait for tragedy to remind us of mortality—it sets…
Ki Tavo – Normal Mystics and Wandering Arameans
From the first rays of the sun in the morning, through our meals, our chores, our friendships, our studies and our work—we are constantly surrounded by a vast array of fragrances, sounds, visions, and thoughts. Some of them catch our…
Ki Tetze – Compassion In An Unjust World
Listen to an audio version There’s a park not far from my home that’s well known for its beautifully groomed tulip and rose gardens. My wife and I often go there, and sometimes we’ll sit at the little outdoor café…
Shoftim – The Pursuit of Justice
Parashat Shoftim begins with words that seem to echo across time: “Justice, justice shall you pursue, so that you may live and inherit the land that the LORD your God is giving you” (Deut. 16:20). The Torah doesn’t just call…
Re’eh – See With Your Heart
Our parashah begins with a single commanding word: “Re’eh” — See. Moses does not say hear, or remember, or even believe, but see. He calls us to open our eyes to a reality that already lies before us: blessing and…
Eikev – No Machers in the Kingdom
Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Freud, in his own idiom, echoed him: “Where id is, let ego be.” Both saw that most people drift through life half-awake. Judaism answers with something far simpler—and far deeper.…