Noach – A World of Difference — By Ben
Parshas Noach is one of the most troubling portions in all of Torah. The idea that God wiped out all humanity, save one family, is terrifying. Ironically, this is the Bible story […]
Bereishis – Why the Snake was Punished — By Ben
Adam and Eve have just eaten from the Tree. God is wrathful. Judgment! Judgment! Judgment! Man is sentenced to an existence of sweat and toil for his food, Women will […]
Divine Hug in Real Time — By Barbara Heller
There’s a song by the great Sara Bareilles, “Hold My Heart”. That song was playing in my head this morning. Its one of her lesser known hits but it always […]
Stop Being A Jerk – By Marc
Okay… yes… that headline seemed like it would grab you more than the original title, Saving The World With Kindness. That in itself is a sad statement… and a testament […]
Lessons from Yom Kippur
With the craziness of the holidays (aka chagim), very often things on the Jewish schedule come to a halt. Classes are put on hiatus, work is nearly impossible to accomplish, […]
The Soulful Sounds Of Silence – By Marc
Rabbi Shlomo Seidenfeld sent out a powerful holiday message to the group I went to Israel with. In it, he talked about Maimonides and his notion that the blast of the […]
Structure of Prayer – Rosh Hashana — By Ben
A couple of weeks ago, I started going through the nuts and bolts of the Shemoneh Esrei. I mainly focused on the opening (1-3) and closing (17-19) sets of prayers […]
Forgiveness: To Give And Accept Or At Least Really Try – By Marc
The New Year is upon us… 5777 is around the corner… It is time to take stock of the things we did and did not do. A scary proposition for […]
Can You be Commanded to Love God? — By Ben
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 […]
Missing Bruce Springsteen… Choosing A Different American Idol – By Marc
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 […]
Six Degrees Of Kosher Bacon 