An Unexpected Messenger on Shabbat
I walked to Jerusalem's Ben Yehuda Street toward the end of Shabbat, thinking that I was going to wait on a park bench until Shabbat ended and the stores opened, in order to try to buy a Spiderman kippah for our son.
Big Thoughts over Brunch in Baka
Pre-Shabbat in Jerusalem is digestion time. On Friday mornings in my neighborhood of Baka, the main avenue teems with voracious brunch-devourers eager to squish a weekend's worth of consumption into one extended meal.
Celebrating Commonalities: Why a Palestinian Muslim Sang at our Shabbat Services
One Friday evening, something remarkable and beautiful happened at my congregation. I’d never seen it before, but I hope I’ll see it many times again.
Cold: Prayer for a Chilly Shabbat
Snow days can be fun; not so this kind of cold. It was colder in Chicago this week than it was in the North Pole.
The Challenge of Holding God Close While Keeping Fear at Bay
The poet Yehuda Amichai writes: I don’t want an invisible god... I want a god who is seen... , so I can lead him around and tell him what he doesn’t see… ... In this week’s portion, Ki Tisa, we reconnect with this unfinished storyline at the beginning of Exodus 32. While Moses tarries atop Mount Sinai, the people down below are losing their patience:
The Unique Contributions of Women and Men Are All Needed
According to Ramban (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman, or Nachmanides; 1194-1270), this week’s Torah portion, Vayak’heil, is properly understood as the necessary reconciliation between the Israelite people, on one side, and God and Moses, on the other, after the devastation of the Golden Calf episode. Ramban reads the opening phrase, “Moses then convoked the whole Israelite community (Ex. 35:1), as Moses rebuilding and healing the community through the inclusion and involvement of all ...