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Blessed or Cursed? The Meaning We Make (P. Ki Tavo)

9/15/2024

We humans are meaning makers: our spirituality concerns not only what happens but also what we make of what happens. Every day of our lives, usually just below the surface of our awareness, we decide what matters most and what our choices say about us and our lives.

This sacred season rivets our focus on this often unconscious inner process – and how it utterly depends on what we say and do together.

"God is in the Details" (P. Ki Teitzei)

9/8/2024

We've probably heard the aphorism that "the devil is in the details." Leaving aside that classical Judaism doesn't really do "devil," spiritually the emphasis is backwards. Not the "devil" but God is in the details. The sacred inheres in our total showing up to our lives and the details of how we narrowcast our attention – especially during these precious days leading to Rosh Hashanah.

Rabbi's Corner – September 2024: Gateway to the High Holy Days of 5785

9/2/2024

This week's start of the holy month of Elul is our gateway into the Season of Meaning.

This monthly Rabbi's Corner column is dedicated to the upcoming High Holy Days of 5785 – our theme, our music, what to expect, and how to make the most of this poignant season at a most pivotal time.

Avinu Malkeinu: The Greatness to Lead Small (P. Shoftim)

9/1/2024

In a few short weeks, Jews worldwide will gather to proclaim Avinu Malkeinu – Our Parent, Our Sovereign. The Jewish notion of a "sovereign," whether divine (God) or mortal (king or queen), hails from this week's Torah portion that is laser-focused on the interplay of justice and humility.

Because too often the two don't go together.

Our Own Way? (P. Re'eh)

8/25/2024

Modern spirituality uplifts personal choice. Most of us understand liberal Judaism to invite each of us individually to question, wrestle, discern and decide for ourselves, liberated from mandate and commandedness. That's what liberalism means: the liberty to choose for ourselves, based on the rights and equal dignity of each individual.

Yet Judaism also is a team sport. We can't all go our own way and survive, much less thrive.

The Neck's Cure is the Heart (P. Eikev)

8/18/2024

Week by precious week, we're shown how we strayed from our best selves. Slowly at first, this season hints, asks, presses, cajoles, demands and then forces us to see some things that maybe we labor mightily not to see. We turn away, perhaps with the whole of our lives or just a part. Or we turn away from truths about ourselves.

In Torah's words, we become "stiff necked." This season's call to turn back means that we must our neck, and this turn begins... on our hearts.

What's Love Got to Do With It? (P. Vaethanan)

8/11/2024

Jewish life centers on love – not like, honor or respect, but love. Love is the core of our creed (V'ahavta), Torah's literal center ("Love your neighbor as yourself"), and the most repeated admonition in sacred Jewish text ("love the stranger, for you were a stranger").

But how can love be commanded? How can any true love be required, especially if the world feels unlovely to us? What kind of love is that?

Turns out, this kind of love is most important of all.

Our Choice Not to Fear? (P. Devarim)

8/4/2024

Fear doesn't seem like an emotion we choose. Whether we experience fear as an overpowering wave, a dull ache in the gut or something else, we rarely go looking for fear. Even so, especially so, our existential choice in this season, especially this year, is whether we will choose to allow fear to inhibit us. Our answer matters utterly now.

Rabbi's Corner – August 2024: For the Sake of Ascent

8/1/2024

Our long, luxurious summer continues, yet already change is afoot. This month brings the Great Turning of Judaism's spiritual year. It's something that maybe many of us never knew in our Jewish lives. The Great Turning runs like a background program – just under the surface, animating the flow of spiritual time. It heralds hope from despair and resilience from the bottom of a well ...

... which is exactly what we need right now.

Vows in a World Unhinged... and a World Redeemed (P. Matot-Masei)

7/28/2024

The High Holy Days – the Season of Meaning, the timeless Jewish call to repentance and repair. Rosh Hashanah and especially Yom Kippur always come too soon: we're never quite ready. We might even spend the summer in denial.

What came of last year's vows – the promises we made to ourselves and each other, our commitment that this time we'd be different? Inner walls have a way of regrowing and old habits die hard. Naturally we develop amnesia ...

... that is, until something reminds us.

<<Previous

Blessed or Cursed? The Meaning We Make (P. Ki Tavo)

"God is in the Details" (P. Ki Teitzei)

Rabbi's Corner – September 2024: Gateway to the High Holy Days of 5785

Avinu Malkeinu: The Greatness to Lead Small (P. Shoftim)

Our Own Way? (P. Re'eh)

The Neck's Cure is the Heart (P. Eikev)

What's Love Got to Do With It? (P. Vaethanan)

Our Choice Not to Fear? (P. Devarim)

Rabbi's Corner – August 2024: For the Sake of Ascent

Vows in a World Unhinged... and a World Redeemed (P. Matot-Masei)

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