Touched by a Torah
A few years back I received a call from then assistant Rabbi of Temple Sinai, Jay Tel-Rav, wondering if I could take a look at a manuscript. He was not sure what is was but he was definite: it was a Kabbalah text. I had a few moments between classes and he was but a […]
The Stopping Place
“There had to be a stopping place,” she said, “and this seemed to be the place for me to stop being pushed around. I had decided that I would have to know once and for all what rights I had as a human being and a citizen, even in Montgomery, Alabama.” For Rosa Parks […]
Blue Monday
“Let the past year and its cursed images end.” Is this prayer a naïve hope? Did we think that when we said this prayer on Rosh Hashanah, reflecting on the disturbing images of so much suffering this past year that this year would be different? Was it our intention that this year would bring us […]
Developing the Negative
There is an old and odd traditional prayer said at the beginning of the New Year—it is found in the Sephardic liturgy and it’s refrain is: “Let this year and its curses (come to an) end.” In the past we have heard of murders and rapes, we have listened to people’s accounts of atrocities and […]
Chasing Peace
For those wanting to access a copy of the KE Rosh Hashanah Prayer Book it is accessible here: http://bit.ly/Y4jV3x I received two emails yesterday, the next to last day of the year 5774 in Jewish Time. One was from a man who was in class with me for a very brief time some six […]
Elephant in the Room
Rosh Hashanah is a time of reflection on beginnings, on the birth story of humanity and on our own births. I was born in the winter of 1958 in Atlantic City. My father had received his rabbinic ordination a year before and the small orthodox synagogue in this sleepy beach town offered him his first […]
Eyes Wide Shut
In preparation for next week’s KE fall festival our faculty has been reviewing the teachings of Reb Zalman. He was a prolific writer and speaker (you can listen to some 1400 of his talks by accessing this audio collection http://bit.ly/1lYzXaN). He is not the most “accessible” writer especially around topics, which he gladly engaged […]
Knowing Your Place
Jewish tradition enumerates a 48 fold path to the acquisition of knowledge, one of which is stated simply as “Knowing your place.” The Rabbis interpreted this quality to mean that every person has a unique contribution to make in this world. “The goal,” they say, “is to figure out where you fit into the grand […]
Leap Frog
Who has not heard this one: If you put a frog in boiling water it will jump out, but if you gradually increase the temperature of the water it will let itself be boiled. Happens to not be factual. Frogs indeed jump when the temperature of the water becomes too warm (well before it […]
Life Isn’t for Everybody
I signed off before the summer on my way to Reb Zalman’s funeral. It was Friday July 4th. The Rabbis speaking at the funeral made mention of it being Independence Day. Reb Zalman was an independent–in thought and action. He was also an interdependent—he had a unique way of bringing people together—in life and in […]