The morning after Roy Moore was defeated by Doug Jones in the Alabama special senatorial election, Rabbi David Evan Markus heard the commentary from both left and right and was disturbed. He explains his angst in an article published in The Forward called God does Not Belong in Your Election Commentary. Rabbi Markus’ article builds […]
Miketz and Chanukah: letting your light shine
This week’s Torah portion is called Mikeitz, which means “after”. In context, it’s two years after Joseph was sold into slavery. Since this parsha falls on the first night of Hanukkah I chose to sketchnote a dvar Torah by my friend Rabbi Rachel Barenblat. In her dvar Torah she connects this installment of the story […]
The Nature of Learning is PLAY
We’re taught to plan the work and work the plan. How’s that approach working for us? Meh. So why not UN-learn and RE-learn the fundamentals of learning? Why not recognize that we no longer live in the Industrial Age but in an age of interconnectedness where collaboration beats control, where innovation is the key to […]
The Art of Sacred Lettering
Introduction to Hebrew Lettering I’ve been talking with Heather Martinez – the grandmistress of lettering (@CorpGraffitiArt) about drawing letters and the challenges I face drawing Hebrew letters. She’s going to look into learning to draw Hebrew so she can help me out (how cool is that!?!). Her awareness and humility at not wanting to accidentally […]
Vayeishev – Man Plans and G-d Laughs
The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men Robert Burns writes eloquently in his poem “To a Mouse” that “The best laid schemes of mice and men go often askew, and leave us nothing but grief and pain, for promised joy!” To an extent this poem is an analog to the Torah portion Vayeishev, which […]