Rethinking the Holy Days
I’ve come to the conclusion we need to change the date of Simchat Torah. Our Jewish festivals must be re-envisioned as inspirational community gatherings of joyful spiritual Jewish celebration. Every single festival needs to be a time of great community involvement and meaning.
Galilee Diary: Non-collective memory
In recent decades, trips to Poland for 11th graders have become de rigueur in high schools in middle class communities.
Galilee Diary: Uncertainty
by Marc Rosenstein
(Originally published in Galilee Diary and Ten Minutes of Torah)
Galilee Diary: On the Waterfront
Preparing for the Days of Awe
During the year I spent studying in Jerusalem as a rabbinic student, it was impossible to escape the upcoming High Holy Days.
Lessons in the Mirror
Wrestling with Forgiveness
Sounds of Kol Nidrei
Acharei Mot: Love and Death
The opening line of this portion, "The Eternal One spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who died when they drew too close to the presence of the Eternal" (Leviticus 16:1), reminds us that the holy is not only attractive, but also dangerous.
The Power of Tears
Why does the Torah mention the deaths of Nadab and Abihu here in Acharei Mot, when the story of their deaths was told in its entirety in Parashat Sh'mini? What is it that the Torah is trying to teach us through this repetition?