O holy parshat Behar, you are speaking to me in the voice of metaphor, poetics, images. We call an image a mashal — a parable, an example. You open with the mashal: Begin with keeping the Sabbath of the land (Leviticus 25:2). The Sabbath of the land;...

A favorite Jewish folktale of mine tells of a group of monks at a monastery who over time lost sight of their own behaviors and treated each other with disrespect. Once known for living in an atmosphere of good will and human decency, the monks increasingly...

The double portion Tazria-Metzora is abundant with everything we need to know about dealing with skin diseases and bodily infections. Offering us more than a search on the Internet, we are taught not only the signs of these diseases, but how we should...

One of my favorite stories is found in a small, but important book by Rabbi Marc Gellman entitled, “Does God Have a Big Toe?” It is a collection of midrash that is written for children but also teaches the adults who read the short selections to them....

I admit that I have a love affair with matzah.  From the simplicity of matzah spread thick with whipped cream cheese, to the burnt edges of the hand-made shmura matzah.   Yet, there is more to matzah than its mouth feel.  Indeed matzah has personality,...

“Animal Sacrifice!”  Not exactly a concept that excites modern sensibilities in Western society.  Yet this is what confronts us every year as we begin the third book of the Torah, Vayikra or Leviticus. Setting aside our aversions to the notion for...

Throughout the Jewish year there are several Shabbatot/Sabbaths which have an added significance. This week will end with one: Shabbat Parah (the Sabbath of Parah Adumah/the Red Heifer), one of a series of special Shabbatot which lead up to Passover....

Crises in faith — we all have them at one time or another. Each of us can become overwhelmed by life and what it often brings to us when we have other plans. These crises can come from many different sources — the loss of a job, the death of a loved...

Parashat Terumah Make [of] Me a Mikdash/holy placeand I will dwellwithin them- Exodus 25:8 The Zohar understands the Sanctuary as a place where two worlds are unified. It is built out of terumah, which is read by many from a Hebrew root which means to...

"Oh rabbi, I may not follow everything in the Torah, but I do believe in the Ten Commandments. That should count for something." Indeed. I wish I had a dime for every time I heard that approach to the observance or rather non-observance of biblical laws....

Last week when I took a walk with my 2½ year old to the park where we have had a small community garden plot for the last year, I did not expect to see resilient winter edibles, lettuces, kale, broccoli; forgotten foodstuff that I thought had surely...