Are We Holy? (Korach)
Judaism repeatedly reminds us that argument and disagreement are a part of our religion. The backbone of the Talmud is impassioned argument, as rabbis argue with each other across the centuries, trying to figure out the…
Category: Judaism and Religion
How Do You Spell Knaidel?
Knaidel .... K-N-A-I-D-E-L ... Knaidel. With that utterance, Arvind Mahankali won the 86th National Scripps Spelling Bee. Arvind is a 13-year old Indian-American living in Bayside, New York.
Oklahoma Tornado, the Pope and the Boy Scouts (Beha'alotcha)
Shabbat is a time to reflect on the week that has passed. It is through reflection that we process our life experience, whether it be social encounters, work experiences, news stories, ephemera culled from the Internet,…
The Little Prince and the Torah (Shavuot)
My favorite book is The Little Prince. I've probably read this delightful book dozens of times. In high school, I was inspired to take French so that I'd be able to read it in its original. I wasn't that successful, as…
Choosing a Path, Choosing Life (B'chukotai)
This portion toward the end of Leviticus is similar to the rest of the book. God continues to instruct the Israelites regarding God's statues and laws. Unlike the previous few portions, however, God's commands in Behar…
Remembering One Life, Remembering 6 Million (Yom HaShoah)
In the movie Grand Canyon, Steve Martin's character says, All of life's riddles are answered in the movies! This quote came to mind when I learned that Roger Ebert passed away.
Counting the Omer: Measuring Time, Measuring Ourselves
Jews have always measured time. The Mishnah informs us that we do not have just one New Year - the one we celebrate on Rosh Hashanah. Judaism actually has four different new year celebrations. There's Tu'bisvat, the new…
Israelites' Freedom, Israel's Freedom: Reflections on President Obama's Israel Trip
Sometimes, particularly in this book of Leviticus that we started reading from last week, the Torah can seem convoluted, murky ... difficult to understand. When reading through or studying, we may wade slowly through…
I Call to God, God Calls to Me (Vayikra)
One of my favorite Torah passages occurs in the first portion of Exodus. Moses had just killed an Egyptian taskmaster, and Moses ran away to escape Pharoah's wrath. These short verses are a watershed moment for the…
Enough Already! (Vayakhel/P'kudei)
A few years ago, I got into electronic music production. I have what is known as a MIDI keyboard, a piano keyboard that plugs into my Mac via a USB chord. The keyboard itself is not a synthesizer; it makes no sounds on…