At the beginning of my career, I encountered a very religious, Hasidic woman in one of the hospitals associated with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., in which I provided pastoral care to Jewish patients from the world over. She had come to the Mayo...

This week’s portion opens onto the mystery mitzvah of the Torah: the red heifer, the little red cow, parah adumah. We have a category of Torah mystery mitzvahs called chukkot — the reasons remain undeciphered. I’m exhausted by the reasons given...

In this week’s parashah, we meet Korach, for whom this parashah is named. He is Moses’ and Aaron’s first cousin and is known as a rebel, as he amassed 250 Israelites to join him in challenging the authority of Moses and Aaron.  Korach says to Moses...

This week’s Torah portion, Shelakh Lekha (Numbers 13:1-15:41), strings together several episodes. The most famous of these is the story of the Twelve Spies. On God’s command, Moses appoints 12 spies to gather information about the land of Canaan...

Once upon a time, there was a young boy who was always looking forward to what was next. If he was home, he wished he was at school the next day. If he was at school, he wished he was  at home already. If he was eating dinner, he wished he was done....

It has been decades now since I first heard the late Rabbi Harold Schulweis speak to a rabbinical convention I attended. In this particular talk, Rabbi Schulweis taught that too often, parents viewed their children as “naches producers.” When parents...

This coming Shabbat, Jews the world over will once again initiate the public reading of the fourth of the Five Books of Moses known as Sefer Bamidbar (or more accurately BeMidbar), the Book of Numbers. For me, this Torah portion holds special significance...

People always tell us to count our blessings. Rarely, if ever, does anyone tell us to count our curses. After all, who wants to think about all the bad things that have happened because of our action or inaction, much less all the terrible consequences...

Week by week, we engage with Torah, looking through the symbolism of its language. We read and try to assimilate those rituals and rules designed for a life we have never experienced. From the very beginning, God is speaking the world into existence...

This week’s parasha, Emor (speak of or to), Leviticus 21:1-24:23, continues the directions of the actions of the priests on behalf of the Israelites. It is an excellent postscript to the Holiness Code in the previous parasha as contains specific ways...

It seems as though every Monday and Thursday someone is writing an article or a book in an attempt to answer the question, “Why be Jewish?” This speaks to the pressure to assimilate, on the one hand, and the desire to preserve Judaism and the Jewish...

The taste of matzah was still fresh on our lips as we began the  study of Acharei Mot this year. This gastronomic phenomenon was particularly pronounced for those who read Acharei Mot last Shabbat because they observe seven days of Passover, including...