Out of Context
by Dr. David Sanders As students of Kabbalah we strive to become adept at “taking” things out of context. Mastery of metaphor, seeing the parallels between the abstract and the concrete underlies our spiritual awareness. Notice that the phrase “taking things out of context” is already using metaphoric language because “taking” though related to objects […]
Held Hostage
by Dr. David Sanders “Every day I think about what you said to me that day on the bridge. I tried to live my life the best that I could. I hope that was enough. I hope that, at least in your eyes, I’ve earned what all of you have done for me.” These […]
Clear as Kristallnacht
by Dr. David Sanders The world I knew, the one I counted on, turned upside down in the aftermath of the genocidal attack on Jews who were residents or just visiting near the Israel-Gaza border on Saturday, 7 October. My older sister, who lives in Israel, told me the next day that it was […]
October Lamentation
by Dr. David Sanders For these things do I weep, My eyes, my eyes, flow with tears Far from me is any comforter Who might revive my spirit My children are forlorn, For the foe has prevailed. This lamentation I have read privately and publicly so many times to the haunting tune of the […]
In the Image of the Cosmos
by Dr. David Sanders A story is told of King Ptolemy of Alexandria (second century BCE) summoning many learned Jewish scholars to translate the Torah from Hebrew to Greek. He placed them in separate rooms to check on the veracity of their translations. When they came to the verse “Let us make the human being […]
Ken, Barbie, and the Tree of Life
by Dr. David Sanders On the insistence of my wife and daughters, I went to see Barbie. Barbie? Why? I knew more about that doll than them. My sister had Barbie dolls and at some point a Ken doll. Barbie was not part of the culture my wife grew up in and our daughters never […]
Celebrating Swifties
by Dr. David Sanders I was barely six years old when they arrived. It was called an invasion. I am referring to The Beatles hopping over the pond and landing in New York City in February, 1964. Along with some 70 million Americans my family watched them perform on the Ed Sullivan show. That was […]
Unseeing. The Dress.
by Dr. David Sanders What color is the dress? The story behind this is well-known. Tens of millions weighed in. Most people saw the colors of the dress as white and gold or blue and black. I am with 11% of respondents who definitively see the dress as blue and brown. Scientists were baffled. “The […]
Tearing Up
by Dr. David Sanders “Tears are the evidence of our inner life overflowing its boundaries, spilling over into consciousness. Wordless and spontaneous, they release us to the possibility of realignment, reunion, catharsis, intractable resistance short-circuited.” The quote is from a photograph book of tears taken by Rose-Lynn Fisher (The Topography of Tears). It is […]
It’s About Time
by Dr. David Sanders It’s about time. (For the first time, in a long time, I am teaching the course on the Kabbalah of Time. When I revisit a course, I want to update it). The last time I taught Time, Stephen Hawking was alive and his Brief History of Time was the classic in […]