I Will Shelter You
Way back in July 1990, when my daughter Katie was two years old, Ellen turned to our little girl and said, "Tell Daddy something he doesn't know." Katie whispered, smiling shyly, "Today is Mommy's birthday." Can you say doghouse?
How Do We Make God Holy?
The point of being Jewish is to have a relationship with God. Yet, a relationship implies a certain give and take, and there is precious little in the Torah that talks about what we have that God could possibly need. What can we give to God?
Tearing a Hole in Being
At the end of Parashat Emor, a disturbing incident is related. In the heat of a fight, a man curses God and is stoned to death for blasphemy (Leviticus 24:10-23). It is understandable that readers may be repulsed by this narrative, and shocked and angry to find it in the Torah.
When It’s Hard to Believe Life Will Get Better
In this week's double parashah, B'har/B'chukotai, we read (among many other topics) of the mitzvah to observe the yovel, the fiftieth "Jubilee" year.
The Law of the Sabbatical Year
What does it mean to lie fallow? How do we distinguish fallowness from sterility? What will nourish us during this time of no creativity? When will we bloom again?
When It’s Hard to Believe Life Will Get Better
In this week's double parashah, B'har/B'chukotai, we read (among many other topics) of the mitzvah to observe the yovel, the fiftieth "Jubilee" year.
Finding the Tzedek in Tzedakah
I was walking to lunch with a good Christian friend, a minister who was inviting me to join in a charitable project his congregation had just begun. We passed a beggar on the street.
Between Winds of Fear and the Gift of Rains
The last parashah of the Book of Leviticus offers a kind of coda to this Torat Kohanim, " Torah of the priests." One might say that it draws to an inauspicious close, very different from the other books of our Bible.
Shof'tim for Tots
A guide to help adults learn how to engage young children in a discussion about this week’s Torah portion.
Va-et'chanan for Tots
Hear, O Israel! The Eternal is our God, the Eternal alone. You shall love the Eternal your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. Impress them upon your children.