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Reclaiming the Spirituality of Food & Omer Week 3 (P. Shemini)

4/20/2025

A special teaching for Earth Week.

Emerging from Passover, whose most outward manifestation is foods we eat and don't eat, maybe it's inevitable that the "food" part of this week's Torah portion stands out. "Kosher" and "not kosher" categories emerge from Torah's traditional list of what one does and doesn't eat.
Turns out, though, that the spirituality of food is far deeper than whether we eat shellfish or pork.

The real question is whether we can reclaim the spirituality of food – for ourselves, for core values, and for our planet.

All Together, Then and Now – and Omer Week 2 (Passover)

4/14/2025

We say that each of us was there. In ancestral ways that defy the mind, every soul spark that ever was experienced the miracle of the Sea splitting to reveal our freedom path forward. The moment was so awesome that we all became like prophets. We still carry that vision.

Passover's seventh day is the anniversary of that awesome day. Honoring that we all were there, we bring in our departed ancestors for Yizkor.

You Are the High Priest – and Omer 5785 (P. Tzav & Passover)

4/6/2025

The matzah that is the Passover bread is about many things. Amidst the crunch and crumbles we might find humility, ancestry, community and reminders of liberation.

Hidden in matzah's layers of meaning (and this week's Torah portion) is one more thing – a profound empowerment and call to each of us.

Rabbi's Corner – April 2025: Forward, Together

4/1/2025

At this hour, Jewish communities around the world are preparing for Passover – the festival of freedom whose underpinnings first made the Children of Israel into a people.

What makes us a people is shared experience and shared calling – and this month it's on us to renew both. A robust calendar of events both local and global is here to help.

A "Small" Teaching on Humility for the Chosen (P. Vayikra)

3/31/2025

Open any Torah and you'll see in the first word of Leviticus a letter written in tiny superscript.

It teaches us about what healthy humility is really all about.

The Sense, and Senses, of Making Holy (P. Pekudei)

3/23/2025

As we round the corner toward Passover, in Torah the Mishkan is finished and activated as Western life's first holy place crafted with human hands. What first made the Mishkan holy wasn't God. What first made the Mishkan holy was a human act. Which begs the question about what "holy" is, and how we humans can make anything holy.

Turns out, in very real ways, there's no other way.

About Our Spring Series: "Community Conversations" About the Mideast

3/19/2025

Israel evokes inspiration, dismay, pride, anger, blessing, suffering, love and hate. The State of Israel and the Mideast, including the ongoing crisis in Palestinian life, deeply touch the heart of everyone in and near Jewish life. Yet rarely do we discuss them openly. Too often such matters are avoided like a Third Rail, or suppressed, or relegated to quiet corners. Let's change that.

After the Breaking, the Building (P. Vayakhel)

3/16/2025

After community conflict, there are exactly two choices. One option is to stew in it, holding onto the conflict's source or how people acted during the conflict.

The other option is to heal by building a worthy future together.

Actually, when it comes to spiritual community, there is only one real choice.

Unbend the Knee (P. Ki Tisa)

3/9/2025

I rarely engage with artificial intelligence, but recently I asked ChatGPT to depict the "Golden Calf of modern society." This image was ChatGPT's response.

For Persia in the Purim story we commemorate this week, the Golden Calf was Haman, the xenophobic prime minister. For our spiritual ancestors in Exodus days, it was literally a Golden Calf – a repudiation of the Ten Commandments.

This week's confluence of the two has much to teach us.

Lights On! (P. Tetzaveh)

3/2/2025

As our Northern Hemisphere enters the weeks of fastest increasing daylight and we accelerate into the oncoming spring (not a moment too soon!), this week's Torah portion opens with a command to make eternal light.

The command aims at all of us, and the sudden absence of Moses underscores the message at this important moment.

<<Previous

Reclaiming the Spirituality of Food & Omer Week 3 (P. Shemini)

All Together, Then and Now – and Omer Week 2 (Passover)

You Are the High Priest – and Omer 5785 (P. Tzav & Passover)

Rabbi's Corner – April 2025: Forward, Together

A "Small" Teaching on Humility for the Chosen (P. Vayikra)

The Sense, and Senses, of Making Holy (P. Pekudei)

About Our Spring Series: "Community Conversations" About the Mideast

After the Breaking, the Building (P. Vayakhel)

Unbend the Knee (P. Ki Tisa)

Lights On! (P. Tetzaveh)

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