Friday afternoon is a time for getting ready for Shabbat, physically (cleaning the house, cooking, etc.) and spiritually (changing mental gears, reading, meditating, or I like doing yoga or running to clear my mind). Yesterday I went for a pre-Shabbat run — but my destination was not particularly "Shabbos-dik." I ran over to the...
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What if the redemption had come, and no one noticed? At the start of this week’s Torah portion, Beshalach, the Jewish people are fleeing for their lives – running away from Pharaoh, ready to cross the Red (or Reed) Sea, and leave Egypt behind. We are at the climax of “Yetziat Mitzrayim,” the Exodus...
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First of all, it goes without saying, our thoughts and prayers continue to be turned to the people of Haiti. The mind boggles at the scale of devastation. Latest estimates say 111,000 people dead — out of a total population of less than 10 million. That would be like Israel losing 70,000 people at...
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WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS "PLOT SPOILERS" FOR THE MOVIE AVATAR. In the course of the discussion, I will of necessity give away some plot points in the movie. If you have not seen the movie, and don't want learn some of what happens, DON'T click on the "continue reading" link. On the other hand, knowing the plot...
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Following up on my comment in Barry's blog… First, I want to distinguish between the efforts of individual rabbis and those of the Conservative movement as a whole. A rabbi who leads congregants to volunteer at a food bank may be reflecting the values of the movement, but is acting as an individual. The...
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Today, the 18th of Tevet on the Jewish calendar, is the yartzeit (anniversary of the death) of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, who passed away in 1972. If you have not read any of Heschel's works, you should stop right now, and go to Amazon and buy two books: God in Search of Man, and...
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