Blog Archives

The Angelic Art of Redemption (P. Vayehi)

12/28/2025

Before it's all said and done, what do we make of the dust-ups, hurts, disappointments and dramas of our messy lives?

it's tempting to answer that we bear them as best we can, and even make meaning of them – and hopefully we do. But is there more?

Is there a way to redeem what happens in our lives? Is there a way to bless others by what we ourselves have become?

That's Jacob's last blessing, and ours – with bonus content from one of my students.

Special for January 23 Shabbat: Rabbi Rachel Barenblat

12/28/2025

Shir Ami is in for a special treat for Shabbat on January 23, 2026.

The renowned R. Rachel Barenblat – "Velveteen Rabbi" and poet of the Jewish experience – will join R. David for an upbeat Shabbat coinciding with our liberation from Egyptian bondage.

If you participated in our 2025 High Holy Day runway series, or this year's Soul Spa, you've had the chance to learn with Rachel online. Don't miss this chance to meet her "live." Bring your open hearts and dancing shoes.

Oneg sponsored by Linda & Stan Gratt.

From Rabbi David – An "Oneg Shabbat" Model Starting in January

12/21/2025

If you've been a regular participant at Shabbat services this autumn, perhaps you've begun to notice subtle shifts in tone and pace.

Shir Ami is diverse in many ways, so I've been slowly experimenting with different approaches to Shabbat. My purpose has been to honor the whole of our diverse community, authentically, and also calibrate the palette of "feel" over time.

Here's to make this subtle shift more explicit and invite us to co-create different kinds of Shabbat experiences together, starting in January.

Subverting Absolute Power (P. Vayigash)

12/21/2025

We live in an era of rising global strongmen and eroding guardrails for democracy.

Judaism has seen much in its 3,500 years, including the rise and fall of many strongmen.

Effective frontal confrontations are rare against absolute power and its penchant for corruption. Such powers tend to entrench themselves by means as damaging and corrupt as they are.

More common are less attention-grabbing ways to subvert absolute power. These tend to be less frontal, less direct, maybe less effective taken one by one. But together, they make the difference.

What You Missed – Mid-December Edition

12/16/2025

In Liturgy of the Prayerbook (Sundays 5:00pm), we finished the Amidah and took a deep dive into the deep meaning of Lekha Dodi.

In SoulSpa (Saturdays 10:00am), we've entered into the Joseph narrative and its spiritual journey of personal and collective transformation.

In Illness & Healing (next session is December 23), we explored Judaism's evolution from ancient faith-healing to embracing modern science as a spiritual practice. Next up are liturgies of healing and the inner journey of prayer.

Out of the Darkness (P. Mikeitz)

12/14/2025

During this Hanukkah week – and now in the wake of the attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Australia – we kindle candles of hope, continuity and community.

We participate in an extraordinary collective act of hutzpah.

We've all known the darkness before the dawn, the anxiety before the knowing, the gauntlet before the triumph. There have been times so dark that we could never imagine light ever penetrating.

And yet.

The Amazing Technicolor Hindsight Stories We Tell Ourselves (P. Vayeishev)

12/7/2025

Joseph's coat of many colors has become the stuff of art, parenting books, spiritual seeking and a now-timeless Broadway musical.

And wow, is it loaded! Perhaps Joseph's coat became such a Biblical icon precisely because it is so loaded.

Stitched into its amazing technicolor weave is a deep teaching about how we make meaning in our lives – and the stories we tell about what happens. In the process, this essentially human (and Jewish) project can't help but play a time-traveling trick on us that hides in plain sight.

It's worth revealing that hidden story (with bonus content from "The West Wing").

The Angelic Art of Redemption (P. Vayehi)

Special for January 23 Shabbat: Rabbi Rachel Barenblat

From Rabbi David – An "Oneg Shabbat" Model Starting in January

Subverting Absolute Power (P. Vayigash)

What You Missed – Mid-December Edition

Out of the Darkness (P. Mikeitz)

The Amazing Technicolor Hindsight Stories We Tell Ourselves (P. Vayeishev)

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