Please join me for six weeks of meaningful study on the themes of the High Holidays
God says,For Aaron and his sonsdo this:Dress them upMake them HolyGive them rulesGive them purpose and PowerAnoint the fatherAnoint the sonsBut where are the women?Where are the mothers and daughtersthe wivesthe sisters Where is Miriam?She had influence, we knowWisdom, we’ve heardShe could lead womenShe could inspire menSpeak to princesses Find water Was she too threateningsomehow?Don’t […]
From the Skin of Mermaids (Tetzaveh 5785) Read More »
A sliver of texts leads us toa discussion we can trace back for millenniaWhat is the value of a life?And yet, surely this is not something we can debate!Created in the image of Godisn’t each of us valued above the price of rubiesAren’t we all priceless?Isn’t every human life a universe unto itself?“Save a life
The Value of a Life (Mishpatim 5785) Read More »
What I wouldn’t givefor Your Cloud of Gloryright nowIt would be a comfortI am preparing to embarkIn some ways I am already in betweenI know what is ahead of meand what I am leaving behindI am ready and not readyI am heartsick and alsoeyes firmly forwardBut there is an Expanseto be crossed in a single
The Expanse (Yitro 5785) Read More »
On one side of the sea freedom was all that matteredOn the other sidewe discovered that freedom is HARDtakes COURAGErequires us to be RESPONSIBLEBut we weren’t ready We sang praises of gratitude and then immediately began to complainWhen we don’t have freedom, we are willing to fight for it. Maybe too willing, sometimesAnd when we
As If We Are Worthy (B’shalach 5785) Read More »
Darknesswas the ninth plague For the Egyptiansit preceded unimaginable suffering and devestationThe death of so many beloved childrenBut for us for the Israelitesdarkness preceded salvationFreedomThe darknesswasn’t just an absence of lightit was an absence of hopeA physical and spiritual manifestation, we are taughtAnd so it seemsperhapsthat what we do in the darknessis what makes all
May there always besummer nights where cultured people appreciate culture and gather murmuring sighs and politely clapping for talented hands and feet and voicesMay there always be art andhistory and may we never forget how to sit under stars in roundamphitheaters that could be any where or whenMay there always be strings and grand pianos
May There Always Be Music Read More »
We learn: After Pharaoh’s first refusal, after the Jewish people’s burden increases because of his words, Moshe can’t imagine redemptionWe seek Redemption now, too but it’s getting harder and harder to imagineTyrants abound Elevated to the highest offices of powerlike kings or God-forbidgodsI fear the future.I too, ask God to make me sureof speechworthy of
Redemption Revealed (Vaera 5785) Read More »
I was never an Esther (until now)I wore my Jewish pride with prideBejewelled and armed with learning shared with anyone who would listenMy Jewishness is often first through the door“Rabbi” preempting my given name on desks and lanyards and at the bottom of poetry and divrei TorahI never thought to hide it (until now)Why would
For Moses there were many homes The home of his birth and the home of the people who raised him And, like Avram, God points him toward a land he’s never been to And calls it Home Having many homes means you never really know whether you’re
That I Might Follow You (Sh’mot 5785) Read More »
There is always a past behind us, a future ahead of us. If we are alive there is at least one breath taken or left to take on either side And each breath, a blessing, If we choose to see it so A father, dying, blesses his boys
Blessed (Vayechi 5785) Read More »