Moses spoke to his successor, Joshua, and told him a couple of things, but what I remember most is the phrase “be strong and courageous.” I loved it when our teacher talked courage.Moses told Joshua not to be afraid, that G*d would accompany us, that...

“ . . . . and God will gather you in from all the peoples to which Hashem, your God, has scattered you. If your outcasts are at the ends of the Earth, your God will gather you in . . .”  — Deut. 30:3-4 Even if we are at the ends of the Earth....

In this week’s parasha, Ki Tavo, Moses instructs the Israelites on the laws surrounding the bikkurim, the first fruits. He tells the people, “When you come in to the Land … you shall take of the first of all the fruit of the Land … and put it...

Ki Tetze means “when you go out.” The people are standing before Moses, who is downloading, in one long song, his remembrance of years past and fervent hopes for the future.  They are standing at the edge of one world imagining, perhaps, the trials...

Yesterday, I was on the verge of correcting someone about something. I thought it would be too disruptive though, and embarrassing to them as well, so I held my tongue for a few minutes. Then, I checked the book from which I was going to prove myself...

A relatively new film shows triplets separated at birth as part of an experiment that was designed to discover whether it is nature or nurture that determines who each individual is to become. While the ethics of such an experiment are certainly questionable...

In the beginning, when G-d was creating the world, humans were created in G-d’s image. That we were created b’tzelem Elokim, “In the image of G-d,” has been a positive and a negative for the Jewish people. It is a negative concept if G-d is a...

I ran into one of the prophets at Schnucks. He was looking over the fresh fruit. Someone spotted him and he signed a cantaloupe with this: I love you with all my broken heart.Then he started to recite poetry. Three weeks I sat in sadness, he declaimed,...

This coming week brings one of the most difficult days of the Jewish year. From Saturday night through Sunday, we will observe Tisha B’av, the day that commemorates many of the tragedies of Jewish history.In particular, we commemorate the destruction...

This week’s double portion, Matot-Masei, includes a number of dramatic and memorable moments from the Torah: The Israelites go to war with Midian; the daughters of Tzelafechad finally receive their inheritance after making a bold legal and moral argument...

Recently, I was invited to facilitate a discussion for an interfaith group of younger seminarians. The organizer, a delightful, gregarious and deeply spiritual professor of Christian theology, wanted me to expose his students to the “Jewish Approach...

In Parashat Balak, we read a vivid and strange episode in the life of the Israelites. As the Israelites draw near to Moab, the Moabites find themselves terrified of this foreign people approaching their country. The Moabite king, Balak, decides to meet...