What to do with IT
Understanding time, tefillin, and Torah and how they inexorably lead to: Empowerment
Where Is Our Exodus?
Where is our Exodus? If the question is about miraculous salvation and the punishment of our enemies, I have no answer. If the question is a quest for experiencing greatness, the answer is the Mitzvot
Standing Outside With Everyone Else
Moses was stuck outside the Tabernacle with the people who built it. He understood at that moment the message of the Half Shekel, or, my fifty cents. He was not standing as the great Moses or the awesome Moses who could meet with God in Heaven. He stood outside as one of the people who all contributed a Half Shekel, fifty cents. It was at that moment that Moses became the most humble of men. I can almost hear the coins jingling in his pocket.
I Spy
I can empathize with the Children of Israel wanting to send spies to see the land they were to conquer. Once they could see with x-ray vision, "The entire people saw the thunder...the sound of the shofar" but now, no longer
Abraham and Martin Luther King
When we are driven out of our complacency by a wrong we don't know what the perfect world will look like. We only know that we can't allow the world as it stands to continue. The need to leave home is clearer to us than our destination. Lekh Lekha.
Listening for What We Don’t Know
Absolute truth is dangerous in the hands of people who do not realize how much they do not know. Just as I cringe when someone declares that he knows the reason for the Holocaust, I shudder when people authoritatively declare people they don't know to be heretics and sinners. Knowing that I don't know opens the door to listening and learning, an opportunity to discover more about God, people, and me.
Dance of Forgiveness
Miriam and the women who followed her recognized that Israel would be unable to move forward until they forgave God for their suffering and their fear. So they sang of God desiring to share His power with them so that they too would be able to "hurl horse with rider into the sea," as Israel does to Amalek in the closing scene of the portion.
Dreams, Naps & Promises
If I had Jacob's dream, I would not have been able to go back to sleep, and, I'd like to believe that I would have responded to the historic promises rather than make a conditional promise emphasizing bread and clothes. I would expect a "Thank You," from Jacob, instead of falling asleep and then playing "Let's Make A Deal,"
The Light Within – The Light Above
All Toledot - Relationships - begin with our relationship with ourselves.
Mighty Compassion
When we understand that the greatest expression of God's might is God's compassion, we open ourselves to receive the gift of Lives of Compassion. Once we have been granted Lives of Compassion; compassion for others and for ourselves we can become a society united in compassion, and wickedness will evaporate.
The True Measure of a Man
God doesn't need a slave to order and say: Build an ark! He could have made it in a second. God desires a partner. It is up to us to rise to that role. Noah's greatness was that he figured it out.
When Disaster Hits
It sounds quite nice, but I wonder whether Abraham had it easier than do we. He had a warning and a reason as well from the only reliable spiritual authority. God appeared to Abraham and told him that a storm was coming to Sodom because of her evil. As far as I know, God did not appear to anyone to warn that the East Coast would be punished for her 'evil'
The Journey of Halacha
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, the teacher of the Zohar who we honor on Lag B'Omer, plants seeds of infinite growth in our minds so each of us can begin our time travel with Torah with a taste of her eternally expanding wisdom embedded in our souls
You Count
A devar torah you can 'count on.' Shabbat Shalom from the Foundation Stone
The Journey From The Refuge
" Nachamu, Nachamu, is not a repetition, but a Song of Act Two--uf new beginnings and of hope.
Getting Heaven Into Our Head
We stand everyday as did Nadav and Avihu, searching to elevate our actions into meaning, desperate to 'make a difference," trying to get the heavens into our heads
Trust But Verify
Jacob was sending a message to his family and to us: Esau was of sufficient stature to merit angels to greet him. Jacob's years in the house of the scoundrel Laban taught him how to view his brother from a different perspective. He began to appreciate Esau's greatness,
An Honest Inward Look
It is Judah's honesty that triggers Joseph's decision to reveal his identity.
Connecting To Ourselves
"The Lord settles lonely individuals into the House (Psalms 68:7)." His House that "dwells in the heart of each individual" is meant to provide a place for the lonely; those disconnected from themselves
Hearing To See
Re'ei is about the opportunity to restore the 'Hearing To See; rejected by Adam and Eve, and again by Israel at Revelation. If we master the higher hearing of Eikev, we will be granted the clear Vision offered in Re'ei.
A Sense Of Place
This week's portion, Re'ei, speaks of our need for a sense of place, how difficult it often is to find, and how we must protect others' sense of place. It also guides us in how to manage the experience of no place
Five Compliments for Every One Criticism
Many years ago, I took my children to the Museum of Natural History in Manhattan. A guide took us around and was patiently describing...
A Tale of Two Noahs
Adam's two Fermatas resonate in the two Noahs, and the notes continue to reverberate in our souls as we struggle to retain our connection to the Garden,
The Forgotten
The two and a half tribes--Rueben, Gad, and part of Menasseh-- listened to the accusations and realized that they were already being forgotten.
Wings of Desire
Who are these beings? Men to Avraham; Angels to Lot. Why do they play such important roles in Genesis? Why are the stories of the beginnings of humanity so rich with unfamiliar characters?
Help! My Nose Is Growing!
The Spartans used their mistakes as lessons for the future. Pinocchio chose to ignore the lessons and continue to do as he pleased. Who are we on Yom Kippur, Spartans or Pinocchio?
MASTERING THE ART OF INSIGHTS
All agree that the Chanukah candles represent insights
Choosing The Right Outfit
The questions about appropriate clothing should not begin with the externals, thecostumes, but with our inner lives, our growth, aspirations, beliefs; what do we see when we look at our souls?
Protecting the Precious
Our Matzah is not Shmurah if we are unconcerned with those who have nothing to eat, or no Seder to join.
Between Hope & Despair
The Tisha b'Av experience is a spiritual affliction, "Acedia," a "sadness, a disgust with life, which comes from our inability to get along with ourselves, our disunion with God."