The month preceding Rosh Hashana is Elul. The rabbis say that the name Elul is an acronym for Ani l’dodi, u’dodi li or I am for my beloved, and my beloved is for me. Who is the beloved in question? Who else, but God. Elul is a time for us to return to God before … Continue reading Can You be Commanded to Love God? — By Ben
Regular readers of this post know that there are two things that feed my soul… that enliven my spirituality… Judaism and Music. Before my trip to Israel I would have probably listed music first… but just as I left for Israel as an American Jew and returned a Jewish American… music is now in second … Continue reading Missing Bruce Springsteen… Choosing A Different American Idol – By Marc
Now that we’re in the month of Elul, Rosh Hashana is just around the corner. This time last year I did a blog post outlining the core of the prayer service known as the Amidah or Shemoneh Esrei. Check it out here. Now I’d like to go into a little more depth. The Origins of Prayer … Continue reading The Structure of Prayer. — By Ben
Here is the full title of this piece: “Psalm Reading… Not Palm Reading – And Age Is So Much More Than A Number!” My good friend and holy brother Salvador Litvak… creator and founder of the brilliant The Accidental Talmudist… told me that it is customary to read the Psalm of your age every single … Continue reading Psalm Reading… Not Palm Reading – By Marc
In an election year, when you come across anything in Torah that speaks about government and rulers, it’s hard not to take special notice. And this week’s Torah portion has a remarkable comment on the way our leaders should behave. When you arrive in the land that Hashem, you God, is giving you and you … Continue reading Shoftim – Kingly Indulgence — By Ben
Originally I was going to write about something else entirely this week, but after reading the tremendous guest post by Barbara Heller from yesterday, I decided to piggy back off a concept she brought up. “I think largely the problem may be that we don’t always get or see ourselves, so we hope that by … Continue reading Mirror, Mirror: Seeing the Worst in Ourselves in Others. — By Ben
I once heard a great Jewish leader, Stuie Wax say, “If you wanna understand what is going on in the world for the week just look to the Parsha.” It doesn’t surprise me at all that this week’s parsha is entitled, “Re’eh” meaning to see. Because this week I had to check my contacts prescription a few … Continue reading Re’eh: To See or To Be Seen — By Barbara Heller
