Yihud & Union – Shabbat Tzav 5779 (2019)
March 22, 2019One can easily view the Book of Esther, and the holiday of Purim which grew from it, as nothing but farce and frivolity. In fact, rather serious challenges and questions [...]
Religious Life
To err is human…Shabbat Vayikra/Zakhor 5779 (2019)
March 15, 2019“an inadvertent violation that involves committing an act…” – in Hebrew, shig’gat ha-ma’aseh (שגגת המעשה). Such is the rabbinic understanding of the case described in our parashah. “If any person from among [...]
Clouds & Glory – Shabbat Pekudei 5779 (2019)
March 8, 2019The Torah’s second book, Exodus, concludes with these words: “For over the Tabernacle a cloud of the Lord rested by day, and fire would appear in it by night, in [...]
Feeling Left Out…Shabbat Vayak’hel-Shekalim 5779 (2019)
March 1, 2019A parable, courtesy of Midrash Shemot Rabbah (51:6) – A young man came to a city and found the people collecting money for charity, and when they asked him also [...]
On the Mountain – Shabbat Ki Tisa 5779 (2019)
February 22, 2019A single spot can tell many stories. This week, I stood at the corner of Dexter Avenue and South Decatur Street in downtown Montgomery, Alabama. I’m still absorbing, and trying [...]
The Work of our Hands – Shabbat Tetzaveh 5779 (2019)
February 15, 2019Ma’asei yadeinu – deeds done with our hands – are very much on my mind as Shabbat Tetzaveh approaches. I’ve spent today (Thursday) walking in Memphis, much of it at the [...]
Upright Writing – Shabbat Terumah 5779 (2019)
February 8, 2019The auditorium at Temple Emanuel in New York City was filled to the brim this past Tuesday evening for a gathering of 70 Torah scrolls. The scrolls, all originally from [...]
Holy Moses on the Mountain – Shabbat Mishpatim 5779 (2019)
February 1, 2019A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of participating in a four day, largely silent, meditation and spirituality retreat. A program of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality (IJS), the retreat [...]
Shekhinah & Us – Shabbat Yitro 5779 (2019)
January 25, 2019 Rabbi David2019-02-09T21:48:13-04:00In these few words, Heschel channels and summarizes an ancient rabbinic interpretive tradition. The Torah’s phrase, “The Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain” (Exodus 19:20), [...]
Mixed Together & Set Apart – Shabbat Va’era 5779 (2019)
January 4, 2019The fourth plague perplexes me. ‘Arov in Hebrew, and translated either as ‘a mixture of wild beasts’ or as ‘swarms of mixed insects’ the affliction involves an unruly, and perhaps unnatural combining [...]