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...

Many of the most memorable experiences of my life, and I suspect of many others' lives, have music associated with them. Whenever I listen to those melodies, the experience associated with each of them is replayed in my mind as well. For example, many...

The political season has arrived!  There is buzz all around as to who is truly electable and who will best represent our country and the desires of the voters.  And, certainly with every election year, at least for me, comes the internal struggle with...

Our deepest relationships are not defined by strength, but by vulnerability. Our parsha begins with Judah approaching Joseph from a position of weakness. He offers his own life in exchange for his younger brother, Binyamin. In his plea, his vulnerability...

I noticed something peculiar in the story of our ancestor Jacob's young adult life. "And G!d went up from him." (Gen. 35:13) It looked almost as if God "lifted off" from him. Could it really be, I wondered, that with the ending of Jacob's conflicts with...