Blog Archives

Rabbi's Corner – February 2025: Prelude to Spring

1/30/2025

Happy February, Shir Ami.

After a cold, dark and bleak January, February ushers in the first hints of spring.

Even now, the first almond blossoms are starting to blossom in Israel. It's time for Tu b'Shevat, Judaism's start of spiritual spring.

If you're not ready, if it feels too early to matter, that's exactly the point.

Come to Narcissist (P. Bo)

1/26/2025

We all have emotional and psychological vested interests in seeming externally to be our best selves. Most of us, we hope, respond to these impulses by actually trying to be our best selves in the world. Our insides aspire to match our outsides.

For others, the optics of manipulated perception are the primary reality or even only reality they recognize or allow others to see.

The effects on communities and society can be brutal, and we must stand up to them.

The Moral Arc Discovered (P. Vaera)

1/20/2025

No liberation is easy. Each begins with a promise that seems too good to be true. Even a promise can seem fanciful during the squeeze of hurt or bondage – like a fantasy, or a delusion. If there's a moral arc at all, at first it can seem out of reach.

So it was for Dr. King. So it was for Moses. So it is for every liberation and transformation.

The Name of Becoming (P. Shemot)

1/12/2025

Who (or What) is God? It's a question (perhaps the question) of the ages, and no blogpost can fully do it justice.

Yet it is exactly the subject of Moses' first encounter with the One we call God: how should the Children of Israel name their liberator?

And nothing has been the same ever since.

"The Days Approached" (P. Vayehi)

1/5/2025

At some point (maybe many points), life teaches us that what we see depends on how we see.

So it is with our perspective on life itself. Few of us go through life deeply inhabiting the ultimate truth of our own mortality. But once we do, the very limits of our lives can help imbue them with greater richness and meaning.

If we let them.

Rabbi's Corner – January 2025: Harnessing Peak Light

1/1/2025

Happy secular new year, Shir Ami! This year's Hanukkah started on Christmas night and ends on New Years night. The secular new year coincides with Hanukkah's brightest light.

And with it, some transitions in our beloved community, and an important opportunity to begin visioning Shir Ami's brightest future.

Rabbi's Corner – February 2025: Prelude to Spring

Come to Narcissist (P. Bo)

The Moral Arc Discovered (P. Vaera)

The Name of Becoming (P. Shemot)

"The Days Approached" (P. Vayehi)

Rabbi's Corner – January 2025: Harnessing Peak Light

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