Today is July 6, 2025 -
Today is July 6, 2025 -
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Sacrifice Related to Holy Sacra, Sacrificium (Latin), Sacrificus (Old French) Offering of something (especially a life) to a deity as an act of propitiation or homage; performing priestly functions or sacrifices. קרוב — קרבן Near, relation by blood The Hebrew word (korban) connects us with something else. Samson Raphael Hirsch (Germany, 1808-1888) teaches us that these rituals Continue Reading »
The Amen Stone BY YEHUDA AMICHAI TRANSLATED BY CHANA BLOCH On my desk there is a stone with the word “Amen” on it, a triangular fragment of stone from a Jewish graveyard destroyed many generations ago. The other fragments, hundreds upon hundreds, were scattered helter-skelter, and a great yearning, a longing without end, fills Continue Reading »
Let me praise Adonai – for You, Adonai my God, are surely great; clothed in glory and majesty, wrapped in a cloak of light, You stretch out the heavens like a sheet of cloth, set the rafters of the heights in the waters above, appoint clouds as Your chariot, and ride on the wings of Continue Reading »
Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. She died at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her. Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites. He said, “I am a foreigner and stranger Continue Reading »
Story of Isaac Lyrics by Leonard Cohen The door it opened slowly My father he came in I was nine years old And he stood so tall above me His blue eyes they were shining And his voice was very cold He said, “I’ve had a vision And you know I’m strong and holy I Continue Reading »
My father was God and didn’t know it. He gave me the Ten Commandments not in thunder and not in anger, not in fire and not in a cloud, but gently and with love. He added caresses and tender words, “Would you” and “please.” And chanted “remember” and “keep” with the same tune, and pleaded Continue Reading »
Tazri’a-Metsora: A Story of Awareness and Healing Yardén Raber, Conservative Yeshiva Talmud Faculty The book of Leviticus (Sefer Vayikra ספר ויקרא) entails many difficulties for the modern reader. First, it can easily be conceived as a cluster of ritual laws that have little to do with our modern Jewish experience. Second, the priestly image of the Continue Reading »
As Passover approaches we return to the annual rituals of preparation — for some folks that includes changing out dishes, shopping for Passover items (checking local selections, contemplating trips to Toco Hills), drawing up guest lists, preparing for our tribal Spring cleaning. Important as all those items are, I feel compelled to consider the more Continue Reading »
As I write these pre-Purim words, I’ve been thinking a lot about the powerful play several of us (shul and Temple member, and a few other friends) took in at the Alliance Theater. I’m referring to The Temple Bombing, based on the novel (2006, same title) by Melissa Faye Greene. I confess to not having Continue Reading »
New beginning bristle with the joy of discovery and the power of renewal. That’s what moves us to rousingly chant Shehechiyanu שהחיינו שat b’nei mitzvah and anniversaries. And the first time we enjoy a fruit in season. And the moment we affix a mezuzah to the front door of a new home. Our brand new Continue Reading »