Category: Dvar Torah

The Flags Up Front (P. Toledot)

11/24/2024

We're all global citizens of a shared and fragile planet. And at the same time, Jewish life's public vitality – and with it, global diversity and genuine belonging – tends to ebb and flow in cycles of societal turbulence. Yet again, Jews and other minorities face a recurring existential question: who are we relative to where we are? In the U.S. flag's stars and stripes, there is still enough starlight for all of us.

When Places Double (P. Hayyei Sarah)

11/17/2024

What we call spiritual places, holy sites, are more than our consecrated houses of worship or historical touch points. Understood as they truly are, "holy" places can be the most ordinary ... until life, love, experience and memory change them into something more. Those places can transport us in memory and meaning, mind and heart – if we let them.

Our story of "double" places that become holy sites begins with this week's Torah portion, and continues today.

The Fever Dreams (P. Vayera)

11/10/2024

Spirituality is partly about how our consciousness flows – how we experience our own hearts, minds and spirits. This flow can change for many reasons – misfortune and suffering, shock and awe, profound joy and love. The shift can feel like a fever dream – intense, unreal but totally real, in us and also beyond us.

Maybe the whole country is having a fever dream now. If so, we can take lessons from our spiritual ancestors... and there yet can be so much good.

Where Are We Going – Post-Election 2024 (P. Lekh Lekha)

11/6/2024

As of sunrise after Election Day 2024, we don't know what the days to come will bring – not for us, not for our country, not for the world.

We've never been here before, but in a sense we have. Over the long view of centuries, as a people we have experienced many watershed moments when it all seemed to be at stake.

"Not knowing" where we're headed, poignant and impactful as it is, also reflects deep truth about who we are – and who we must be.

After the Flood, the Rainbow (P. Noah)

10/27/2024

In these anxious days, some see our world teetering on the brink, fearing the worst. While Jewish life teaches resilience, emotions of anxiety and fear are real. Maybe that's why the arc of Jewish wisdom reminds that even after the most destructive storm there's a new light, and a promise, and a rainbow.

Take Two: Meet the Midrash (P. Bereishit)

10/20/2024

The High Holy Days end, Simchat Torah launches the reboot of Torah, and with Torah's beginning comes Creation anew.

Or should we say "Creations" anew? After all, Torah's first portion records not one Creation narrative but two! Thus was born everything – including Judaism's wondrous sacred tradition of midrash (story telling) that will be the focus of Soul Spa for 5785.

Who's In? You're In. We're All In. (P. Netzavim-Vayeilekh)

9/22/2024

One of my favorite moments of the Jewish year is coming... and it's probably not what you think. There's a point on Yom Kippur when we come together as if to receive anew the ancient covenant, knowing that the very act of being together magnetizes that covenant.

But Torah's basis for this moment, in this week's portion, asks us to read it in a counter-intuitive way.

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.

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.

<<Previous

The Flags Up Front (P. Toledot)

When Places Double (P. Hayyei Sarah)

The Fever Dreams (P. Vayera)

Where Are We Going – Post-Election 2024 (P. Lekh Lekha)

After the Flood, the Rainbow (P. Noah)

Take Two: Meet the Midrash (P. Bereishit)

Who's In? You're In. We're All In. (P. Netzavim-Vayeilekh)

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

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

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

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