Passover Proaction
This week of Passover is distinguished by what we eat and what we don’t eat. We remove Chametz (all leavened products) and eat the flat bread—Matzah. Kabbalah provides a number of explanations as to the inner meaning of matzah and chametz. The most common explanation, also alluded to in traditional Jewish teaching, is that […]
Who Is Retiring?
Last night I discovered the mythical missing borough of New York. It did not float off from Manhattan as the father suggests to his son in Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. It is to be found in Evergreen, Colorado. I was invited to be scholar-in-residence at Beth Evergreen Synagogue and over dinner […]
Every Seven is a Reflection
For the past few years we have “counted the Omer” together—a 50 day count from Passover to the holiday of Shavuot. As Passover is “early” this year I thought it best to get started on thinking about the framework for this years’ counting. Following the tradition in Kabbalah—the weekly and even daily counts relate to […]
A Serious Rabbi
There will be memorial services here in Denver to honor the life and accomplishments of Stanley Wagner, Rabbi, educator and risk taker who died this week. To me he was a serious man, a characterization that speaks to both his public demeanor and his drive to make a difference. It is therefore wonderful to relate […]
Masked in Translation
If only I had time to read every book or article recommended, emailed or handed to me—this week though I read them all, watched a film and ordered four books. Milan Kundera’s The Art of the Novel was one such book placed into my hands this week—the invitation was to read essay number 6 entitled […]
Of Humans and Angels
The moon was crescent to the south side—a Cheshire like smile illuminating the hidden, yet visible outline of its entirety. She was rising in the west, a guide to last night’s destination—another encounter with the spiritual medium, our speaker on unmasking the self, Rebecca Rosen. Are we human beings on a spiritual journey or […]
Children and Violence
The petition circulated to you at the end of last week NEEDS YOUR HELP NOW. Please take 3 minutes (I timed it—it will require you to type a code in and then the White House will send you a link to add your name to the petition). The petition goes live once it garners 150 […]
The Power of One
Highlighting the amazing peace initiative by Ronny Edry last week had its own viral response by you. His story continued to spread throughout the United States via your contacts and friends. A principle of Kabbalah is at work: one small flame can serve to light up the darkness. This past week a virus has […]
Your Next Act
Maimonides in his Code of Jewish Law provides an interesting image of the world teetering on a balance beam of existence–awaiting the very next human act (meaning your very next act) to either plummet it into oblivion or move it forward in its evolution (Laws of Repentance 3:4) A little over 10 years ago, […]
Sandersize and other Eponyms
I woke this morning with the word “ferberize” on my mind and then a string of associations to words such as sanitize, fantasize, compartmentalize and a whole string of words ending in “ize.” I then returned to ferberize and realized that what was intriguing me was that a word, in common English usage, was […]