Chol HaMo-eid Sukkot: A Tabernacle of Torah for Everyone
It was a quiet Jerusalem day at the Wall, one of those brutally hot June afternoons with the sun beating down on the sandy hues of Jerusalem stone. The day seemed familiar yet something was different.
To Everything There Is a Season: Turn, Turn, Turn to Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) this Sukkot
One of the privileges and responsibilities that I have as a congregational professional is serving on the faculty of the Union for Reform Judaism's summer camps.
A Different Type of Sukkah
I hate camping. The thought of sleeping on the hard ground among the bugs makes my skin crawl.
Holding Opposites
This Shabbat is known as Chol HaMo-eid Sukkot. The very description is curious. Sukkot is a holiday that lasts for seven days.
Is Seeing the Same as Believing?
For most of our congregations, the procession of Torah scrolls on Simchat Torah will begin with a textual reminder that Israel "knows" that Adonai is God.
What a House Is
The home-repair season is drawing to a close in my part of the country, and I still have not fixed my roof. That omission weighs on me. I want to protect my household and my house; I think each of us does. So we build our roofs and our walls and try to live safely. But Rav Kook is right: That is not enough. Destruction can still come, whether by flood or by poverty or by airplane. Sukkot reminds us of the vulnerability with which we live.
Hakol Havel, "Everything Is Breath"
Focal Point
- What has been will be, what has been done is what will be done; and there is nothing new under the sun.
What’s in a Name of God?
Several years ago, when the number of dogs in animal shelters was skyrocketing, someone hit upon a marketing strategy that increased pet adoption exponentially: Rather than names like Spot, Cuddles, or Fido, they gave them celebrity names like George Clooney, ... Never doubt for a moment the tremendous power of language! When it comes to establishing a connection, the names and images we use make a tremendous difference.We see this in our weekly Torah portion, B’shalach, where the imagery the Israelites use to describe God is striking.
God as Matchmaker
With so many matchmaking and online dating services, it's no surprise that people are looking for love, but as a recent Pew study1 shows, their search results in marriage less and less often. That's because relationships of any kind are seldom easy.
Facing Our Faults on the Other Side of the River
The stories in Genesis are heavy with human experience; they turn on every conceivable emotion, and life and relationship challenge. In this way, Torah in general, and the Book of Genesis in particular, provide a spiritual mirror that reflects back to us our best, and sometimes most disappointing selves. ...In Jacob, who, in this week’s Torah portion, Vayishlach, wrestled with the night messenger, we see ourselves struggling with great challenges that bring pain, but from which we might extract blessing.