Today is the twelfth day of Elul, which means half of the month is nearly gone. On the other hand, half of it is still left. How will each of us use this sacred time for our High Holiday preparation?
Rabbi Alan Lew of blessed memory, a pioneer in the practice of Jewish meditation, reflects on the paradox of Ki Tetze, our Torah portion this week, which falls every year...Read more...
Today is the fifth day of the Hebrew month of Elul, which is the preparatory month just before Rosh Hashanah begins. And how do we make ourselves ready? We pay attention. We turn inward. We think about what we need to muster in order to face the new year with hope and commitment to things larger than ourselves.
There are so many Jewish sources to keep us company...Read more...
Our Torah portion this Shabbat, Re’eh, opens with God’s words to the Israelites: “See, this day I set before you blessing and curse. What follows is quite characteristic of Torah, promising Israel that if they stay true to their path, to their obligations, to what God asks of them, blessings will indeed be theirs. But (and you can probably guess what’s coming!) should they turn away from God’s...Read more...
This column comes your way from Great Barrington, MA – home of Eisner Camp, which is our region’s Union of Reform Judaism overnight camp. Like most URJ camps, Eisner invites rabbis to spend up to a week with them during their different summer sessions. Guest rabbis teach, help with services and electives, and are generally on hand as a rabbinic presence for the kids. So, armed...Read more...
Perhaps the hardest lesson for any child to learn is that parental decisions are sometimes final, whether or not one agrees with their parent’s logic. With infuriating consistency, no means no, no matter how much a child may plead, pucker out a lower lip, or employ the most adorable, irresistible pair of puppy dog eyes. Asking again five minutes later is unlikely to result in a different...Read more...
A good friend of mine once reflected that life is a process of discovering why clichés are clichés. Does the phrase “where does the time go” count?! It’s hard to believe it’s the first of August already, with its ever-present heat, sudden and fierce rainstorms, summer concerts and festivals. Here at TBD we have our own summer traditions: outdoor Torah Study, Parents’ Night Out and Sisterhood Dinners. It is...Read more...
Depending on how you work the numbers, I’m one of 9 children. Or 11. Or 16. After my parents split, each remarried someone who brought their own kids into the mix. So, for anyone keeping score: 3 brothers (1 deceased), 5 sisters, 1 half-brother, 1 half-sister, 3 stepsisters, 2 stepbrothers. Some of these siblings grew up with me in Albany—sharing values, bedrooms, clothes, a love of corny jokes, and the local...Read more...
Many conversations I've had over these last months have touched on the topic of resistance. When something happens that sparks our individual and/or collective outrage (and there are, unfortunately, too many things to list here) what is the best way to voice our feelings? Is it through writing letters, contributing money or time to organizations doing work we believe in? Is it civil disobedience? Or making sure our...Read more...
Some weeks, drawing connections between the Torah portion and current events can feel like a reach. And then there are weeks like this one, when the parallels are impossible to ignore.
Parashat Balak is a story rooted in fear—fear of occupation, fear of being overwhelmed, fear of the other. The Moabites and Midianites grow anxious as they watch the Israelites temporarily settle near their borders. To Balak, king of Moab, this...Read more...
