What’s worse, according to Jewish law: intending to eat a ham sandwich and instead, by accident eating a turkey sandwich; or intending to eat a turkey sandwich and by accident eating a ham sandwich?  Rabbi David Weiss Halivni points to a moment...

“You will continue to suffer if you have an emotional reaction to everything that is said to you. True power is sitting back and observing things with logic. True power is restraint. If words control you, that means everyone else can control you. Breathe...

Shelach Lecha is the fourth portion in the fourth book of Torah, called Numbers or Bamidbar. God tells Moses, shelach lecha, send for yourself(!) scouts to check out what I’ve already told you is a good land. Thus begins what Rabbi Shai Held calls a...

The Book of Ruth is a story, on many levels, of loyalty. In the words of Lynn Greenhough, Ruth speaks the following to Naomi: “You gave me friendship and community. I brought you loyalty and grain. Together we found sustenance and love and family....

In my experience, I have found people attempting to explain Judaism by comparing faith and deed. Unlike other religions, Judaism focuses more on what one does than on what one believes. And there is certainly some truth to that. The Talmud focuses much...

At 2:45 a.m. on a Monday in March, I was standing ankle-deep in the hyperconcentrated salt water that filled the bottom of Badwater Basin in Death Valley, waiting for the clouds to clear, hoping and believing that the expert calculations of scientists,...

John got in big trouble when he was 7 years old. There were a bunch of ants on the front step of his house, and he really wanted to get rid of those ants. So he tried stomping on them. But there were too many. And then he went into the garage, he grabbed...

Each year, the Reform congregational rabbis of our community co-teach an Introduction to Judaism class. We take turns teaching different units, but my favorite is always the life cycle. Jewish rituals for the big moments in our lives are unique and special,...

It starts with a command: Tzav. Same root as mitzvah. Here though there is an extra urgency. The voice of the Talmud came to me in my morning meditation; extra urgency, Tzav, hurry! Do this thing. What thing. Lift up the ashes, thus says your Torah....

I have an unfortunate habit at home of calling out to my husband when we are in different rooms. To make this matter worse, I may be standing next to the washing machine or the television. As if he could possibly hear me. And yet, I call out to him! Calling...