Grace in the wilderness: Parashat Bamidbar (Numbers 1:1-4:20)

Published on May 8, 2013

The book of Bamidbar, literally “in the desert” or “in the wilderness,” is a hard book to read. Over and over, plagues break out and thousands are killed. The reason, we are told, is a pronounced lack of faith in God. I found the repeated spilling of Israelite blood difficult, to say the least, until Bible scholar Adriane Leveen put it into mythic perspective for me.

The cure for anger: Parashat Emor (Leviticus 21:1-24:23)

Published on April 24, 2013

Life is not easy. In fact, at times it’s downright infuriating. Our natural tendency is to want to blame someone, and the easiest target is God. We may carry anger at HaShem for our entire lives. As a result, we miss out on decades of spiritual connectedness and comfort.

Willing to sacrifice

By Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky
Published on March 21, 2013

The mind of the midrashist drifts effortlessly over the face of the Tanakh as verses from the Torah conjure up similar verses and phrases from other sacred books. Thus, our parasha’s descriptions of the thanksgiving offerings and the free-will offerings call to mind a phrase found in Psalm 50: “The one who sacrifices a thanksgiving offering honors me.”

God’s road rage

Published on February 27, 2013

What’s up with God?

Wearing your true self

Published on February 20, 2013

We are taught from a young age not to “judge a book by its cover” and we raise our children to look deeper than just at the clothes someone is wearing.

Listening More Than We Speak

By Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater
Published on August 10, 2011

Having just come off Tisha B’Av, not only do we focus on the parasha, Va’etchanan, but this is also Shabbat Nachamu, the healing Shabbat of Comfort, so named because we read the words of Isaiah, “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God” (Isaiah 40:1).

Revisionist History: Parashat Devarim (Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22)

Published on August 2, 2011

My grandmother loved to tell family stories in which key details were changed. Sometimes she swapped out one time period or location for another. Sometimes key characters were replaced or motivations recast. More than slips of memory, these alterations were her way of putting the past into perspective, of teaching lessons and of casting a favorable light on the generations gone by. I lovingly called this trait “Nana’s revisionist history.”

Engraved Ideas

By Rabbi Elazar Muskin
Published on May 17, 2011

In 2008, the Los Angeles Times ran an op-ed written by Marisol Leon, a young woman who graduated from Yale in 2007 and returned to teach in the same public middle school she had attended:

Blasphemers No More

Published on May 3, 2011

My sister just touched down in Israel. I can feel her elation way over here in California. Time stood still; there was silence. The land and the woman were one. She had returned home.

Recognizing a Community

By Rabbi N. Daniel Korobkin
Published on March 1, 2011

When looking for biblical themes on the importance of community, one needs look no further than those portions at the end of Exodus that deal with the construction of the mishkan (Tabernacle). This special structure represents the collective spiritual power of the Jewish people, which is far greater than the sum of the individual parts. Separately, the individual Jew does not have enough spiritual energy to bring the Divine Presence, the Shekhinah, into this world. But when the Jewish people join in the construction of a communal edifice, a structure that represents their collective worship and spiritual energy, the Shekhinah eagerly embeds Itself within the people.