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It is(n’t) Going To Be Alright
“Everything is going to be alright” may be the greatest lie we tell our children. Imagine the swaddled babe in its parents’ arms looking quizzically back up at their parent and asking, “what do you mean by alright?” The promise of protection from harm is wishful thinking. But the hopefulness it engenders might be enough…
November 26, 2022Ready to Snap
Great challenges make us cry out for answers. Every person will confront deep physical pain or emotional trauma. When the ache becomes agony, when we feel about to snap, we might call out to the heavens with our unhappiness. Sometimes we get an answer. In Torah, Rebekah conceived the twins Esau and Jacob. The twins…
November 19, 2022
A Dying Business
Since Torah times, people spend too much time on the business of making a funeral. Burying loved ones should not only be a commercial transaction. A funeral is a sacred and indispensable opportunity to say goodbye. Too often we waste much of that valuable time. The Torah portion for this week opens with the death…
November 13, 2022
Swept Away
America was close to being governed by racists and anti-Democratic leaders. We aren't the only country in danger of losing our democracy. Israelis elected 14 avowed racists to the Knesset who will pursue an anti-Democratic agenda. Italy has a fascist prime minister. In Hungary, Viktor Orban has crafted an “illiberal democracy.” The second-largest political party…
November 6, 2022The Torah of Taylor Swift
The campaign for women’s equality begins in the Torah with the story of Sarah. Sarah was the realist counterweight to her God-fearing husband, Abraham. Not until a millennium later, when we reach Deborah in the book of judges, do we glimpse women’s leadership and parity. And the "torah" of women continues right through to Taylor…
October 30, 2022Anchors and Bombs Away
Vladimir Putin is threatening the use of nuclear weapons. This news terrifies those paying attention, especially in Ukraine. However, the news benefits a few people. Those that benefit manufacture residential bunkers. The industry is booming in the US and England. The possibility of hiding in a nuclear safe room draws a comparison to the Torah’s…
October 22, 2022
Judaism Worth Choosing
We added a new melody for the High Holidays. The song is “Renew, Rejoice” written by Carrie Newcomer. The songwriter is a quaker whose words connect with the meaning of the High Holidays. She writes: “renew, rejoice, begin to begin again.” Can Torah come from a Quaker? Certainly. So why was it that I wondered…
October 16, 2022
Reconciliation to Save US
Yom Kippur teaches us the process of teshuvah. One element of our repentance is reconciliation. More than making amends for past wrongs, reconciliation demands education, understanding, and caring in the formation of a relationship based upon shared values. In 5782, I began a journey of discovering how we need reconciliation on a national level and…
October 4, 2022
Completely Incomplete
An effective technique to defuse a pending argument is “to pregame” the events that give rise to tension. For example, we will inevitably debate the process each year of setting up our sukkah. The construction is fraught with peculiar details. Where in the yard shall we place the sukkah? Should we change the configuration? How…
September 18, 2022
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