Theology, Technology and a bit of Music
This Shabbat is called Shabbat Chol HaMoed Pesach, as it is the Shabbat placed between the first and last days of Passover. On this specific Shabbat, we deviate from our forward progression through Leviticus as we go…
This Torah portion, Ki Tissa, makes for a fantastic dramatic television series. God continues to command the building of the tabernacles. Moses is on Mount Sinai with God for 40 days. The Israelites complain to Aaron…
In the last three months, I have been on a steering committee with eight other local clergy members. We have created the Greater Athens Interfaith Clergy Partnership. On Sunday afternoon, we will have our first…
During one of the years when I served at Temple Israel in Omaha, Nebraska, we asked congregants to write and deliver the sermons during the summer months. We called it Sh'ma Yisrael. As I've said in the past, the Sh'ma…
And Jacob lived 17 years in the land of Egypt. This is how this week's portion begins. It's name, Vayechi, means, and he lived. A midrash teaches that this opening verse signifies so much more than the fact that Jacob…
How do you explain the miracle of Chanukah to non-Jews? A popular Facebook suggests one to imagine that their cell phone battery is at 10%, but yet it lasts for eight days. That's the miracle of Chanukah!
Things are not going well for Jacob. After conspiring with his mother to fool his father into thinking that he was his older brother (got it?), Jacob's older brother Esau is furious. And rightfully so! Jacob tricked…
A few weeks ago on my podcast, My colleague and I talked about the role of politics in religion. Do they mix? Should they mix? Our Torah has 613 commandments. Our rabbis divided them into a number of categories, one of…
My father loves photography. He would lug out his 35 millimeter camera and insist on taking pictures of my mom and me on vacations, hikes, even sometimes just going out to lunch. Now that he has a DSLR, it's even worse;…
A young boy ran away from home, and was quite far away. In fact, it would take a journey of 100 days to return. He friends beseeched him, Return to your home! He said, I cannot, for I do not have the strength. Upon…