Theology, Technology and a bit of Music
One month ago, a family in Brooklyn started to celebrate Shabbat. Gabriel Sassoon, father of eight children, was at a Jewish conference away from home. His wife Gayle was taking care of their children. I imagine that…
The beginning of this portion, Ki Tissa, starts with a census. God commands Moses to count the heads of the Children of Israel. This census is interesting, especially when compared to the two previous Torah portions.
Shabbat Shalom. The past week has been a difficult one. In the span of a few days, terrorists killed 17 people in France. The four Jewish citizens at the kosher grocery store were buried in Israel for fear that their…
So how do you spell Hannukah? There actually is a correct way: Chet, nun, vav, kaf, hey. But in English, there's disagreement. Some prefer to spell it phonetically, starting it with a "ch." Some, like myself, like the…
With the war in Gaza hitting a fever pitch, Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum wrote a prayer for peace. Within the prayer, she recited the names of Israeli soldiers and Palestinian children. She urged her congregation not to harden…
Tonight I ask, what is behind this curtain, the parochet that opens to reveal the insides of our holy ark? Lawrence Kushner, the fantastic kabbalist and author, tells a story from his days as a pulpit rabbi at…
If you have ever studied Roman mythology, you may recall the god, Janus. Janus is the god of beginnings and transitions. He is also known as the god of doorways and time. Our secular month of January serves as his…
A zen koan: Lightning flashes, Sparks shower, In one blink of your eyes, You have missed seeing. - Zen Koan Judaism teaches us to see. Abraham looked up to see the ram that he would sacrifice in place of his son, Isaac.…
This has been a difficult week. Last Shabbat, we prayed for the safety of three Israeli teens. On June 12, Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach disappeared after leaving their yeshiva. World jewry came together…
Tonight, I'm going to talk about Korach. Korach was a first cousin to Moses and Aaron. He challenged their authority, claiming that the priesthood should belong to him. The story ends with the earth swallowing up Korach…