Galilee Diary: Justice, Justice
No, if you really mend your ways and your actions, if you execute justice between one man and another; if you do not oppress the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, if you do not shed the blood of the innocent in this place, if you do not follow other gods, to your own hurt - then on
Galilee Diary: Taxidermy
The house of Israel named it manna; it was like coriander seed, white, and tasted like wafers in honey. Moses said: 'This is what the LORD has commanded: Let one omer of it be kept throughout the ages; that they may see the bread that I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out from the land of Egypt.' And Moses said to Aaron: 'Take a jar, and put one omer of manna in it, and place it before the LORD, to be kept throughout the ages.' As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the Pact, to be kept. -Exodus 16:31-34
Galilee Diary: And a Happy New Year
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the Israelite people thus: In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe complete rest, a sacred occasion commemorated with loud blasts.
A Prayer for the Start of School
I offer this prayer for the beginning of the school year... And so begins a new year.... May it be
Galilee Diary: Tunnel vision
The arid desert shall be glad, the wilderness shall rejoice and shall blossom like a rose. It shall blossom abundantly; it shall also exult and shout. It shall receive the glory of Lebanon, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon...
Galilee Diary: Coming of Age
How can a young man keep his way pure? By holding to Your word. I have turned to You with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commandments.
-Psalm 119:9-10
Galilee Diary: The sound of silence
...There was a great and mighty wind, splitting mountains and shattering rocks by the power of the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind - an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake - fire; but the Lord was not in the fire.
Galilee Diary: Seasons greetings
You shall make no covenant with them and their gods. They shall not remain in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me; for you will serve their gods - and it will prove a snare to you.
-Exodus 23:32-33
Discovering Meaning in Jewish Observance
Ever since I was a young adult, I have felt called to wrestle with Jewish texts and ideas.
Nitzavim: A Memory
I wrote this drash in honor of (or is it in memory of) the fiftieth anniversary of my bar mitzvah on 21 September 1957 at Temple Beth Israel in Macon, Georgia.