Every year on Tisha b’Av I struggle with a sense of cognitive dissonance between the traditional liturgy and the reality I see around me as a resident of Jerusalem. On Saturday night my community will gather at the Haas Promenade, and with an eye on the lit up, golden, Dome of the Rock, the...
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God wants us to drink wine. That’s my favorite conclusion from thinking about this week’s Torah reading, Naso. In this week’s parsha we learn about the nazir, sort of a Jewish version of a monk. When a person decides to take on a vow to be a nazir, he shall abstain from wine and...
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Malchut of Malchut. Sovereignty of sovereignty, leadership of leadership. We’re there. The last day of the counting of the omer. We are standing at Sinai, ready to receive the Torah. Malchut of malchut is the point of actualization. Putting everything into action. Bringing ourselves, our personalities, into the world. The 49 days of the...
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Yesod of Malchut. Bonding / foundation of sovereignty / leadership. Today is the 48th day of the counting of the omer. When our ancestors were at Sinai, they were in the final stages of preparation for receiving the Torah. Today is the day to question whether we’ve integrated all the previous elements of leadership....
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Hod of Malchut. Glory/humility of sovereignty/leadership. Great leaders are confident, but they are also humble. They are not afraid to admit they don’t know something; they are not afraid to seek counsel. A leader is not chosen because he/she knows everything. There’s a legend that says someone was once criticizing Henry Ford’s lack of...
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Netzach of Malchut. Endurance in Sovereignty (Leadership). Effective leadership needs endurance – and endurance’s companion, consistency. Moses had a goal – bringing his people to the Holy Land. He stuck with it for forty long years. He didn’t give up, along the way, although there were times when he was tempted, as when he...
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