Early one morning last week my daughter got on a plane. for a 10 day birthright trip to Israel sponsored by the Jewish Federation. The holiest site to the Jewish people is called Hakotel HaMa’aravi or The Wailing Wall. This is a small section of the Western Wall of the Second Temple and is the […]
B’haalot’kha – It’s Stressful to be a Leader
This coming week’s Torah portion is B’haalot’kha (Numbers 8:1-12:16). The highlights of this portion include a description of the menorah, the assignments of the tribe of Levi as assistants to Aaron and the priests, another description of Passover, and a description of the departure of the tribes from Sinai. Lots of obvious things to sketch […]
Shavuot – The Journey of a Slave People to a Nation of Laws
The Jewish holiday of Shavuot was on May 30 (this year). It’s two-fer holiday. It marks the biblical giving of the “Ten Commandments” at Mt. Sinai. It’s also an ancient harvest holiday that marks the end of the grain harvest. Shavuot means “weeks” and is named such because it marks the end of 7 x […]
Naso – Live Long and Prosper
The Torah portion Naso, like all sections of the Torah, has many layers and many story lines. I zeroed in on one small line because it connects directly with pop culture. This portion contains the priestly blessing. In pop culture the same blessing and hand sign were used by Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock in […]
We are All Freshmen in the University of Life
Several weeks ago I was part of the second of a three part Interfaith Trialogue where members of the Jewish, Islamic, and Christian communities came together to ask questions about each other an the views of other faiths in a safe place. A week later I attended the third in an interfaith series in my […]