Let the Light of Hanukkah Shine On
Hanukkah ends at sunset, but unlike the endings of Shabbat and festivals–when Havdalah marks the separation between the holy and the mundane–there’s no ritual to mark this ending, and I’d like to propose one....
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When Dreams Come True
In this week’s Torah reading–Mikketz–Joseph is finally released from prison and brought to Pharaoh to interpret two dreams which none of Egypt’s magicians had been able to do. As I was reading the text...
Vayetze: Because Superheroes are Human Too
In honor of my bat mitzvah anniversary, and in memory of Stan Lee. When I began learning and studying Torah and other sacred Jewish texts as an adult, I had some trouble realizing and...
A Change of Scenery Changes Us
This week we read the third portion in the book of Bereshit, Genesis, Lech L’cha, from the first sentence. Lech L’cha means, “go, go forth, go for–or to–yourself.” As Freud is famous for saying,...
The Tower of Babel – Ancient Team Building?
The story of the Tower of Babel takes up just 10 verses in this week’s Torah reading, sandwiched in between two long genealogical lists; the descendants of Noah preceding, and those of Shem following....
A Water-Optional Tashlich
When I was young, “doing tashlich” meant walking down to the little brook in our front yard and throwing in bread crumbs. Whether or not that water was actually moving was unclear, but we...
When Rosh Hashanah falls on 9/11
In 1945, a B-25 Mitchell bomber crashed into the Empire State Building between the 78th and 80th floors, killing 14 people. It was clearly an accident, so 17 years ago when I received a...
Enchantment, the Talmud and Memory
When I was a teenager, I loved going to Rabbi Wallin’s Tuesday evening Talmud class. I can’t tell you anything that I learned all those years ago, but I fell in love with Talmud,...
Hayom Harat Olam, the Birth-day of the World
After each of the sets of shofar blasts in our upcoming Musaf service, we’ll proclaim, Hayom Harat Olam! “Today is the birthday of the world.” It’s a very curious phrase, and the literal translation...
Ki Tetze, He’s not heavy, he’s my brother(‘s ox)
This week’s Torah reading, Ki Tetze, might seem like a laundry list of rules, and those who like to count mitzvot in the different readings, claim that this parashah has more mitzvot than any...
