Frogs In His Nose, Frogs On Their Toes…
This week we read parashat Va-era, where God begins to send plagues to Egypt to convince Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. The first plague is dam, blood, and when that’s over, the same...
Tagged: torah
Dying to Live Our Best Life
It could be said that our patriarch, Jacob, was the first person to create an ethical will, essentially, a spiritual bequest to his heirs. In this week’s Torah reading, Vayechi, which means, “and he–meaning...
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...
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,...
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...
Leveling the Playing Field
This week’s Torah reading, Re’eh, presents an interesting progression of commandments regarding caring for the less fortunate in our communities and society. First we’re told, in Chapter 15 verses 4 and 5, “There shall...
