“Alexander the Great had a soldier in his army who bore his own name but was a great coward. The emperor, enraged at the soldier’s conduct, justly said to him, ‘Either change your name, or learn to live up to it.’ ” (From “A Complete Treasury...

This week’s Torah portion, Parashat Noach, tells the story of the eponymous Noah. Over six chapters (Genesis 6:9-11:32) and 153 verses, we read of Noah, the flood, the dove and olive branch, God’s promise to never again destroy the world and,...

What is Jewish time? I am not referring to our supposed casual approach to arriving at appointments or even at synagogue services. Rather, how do our spiritual teachers understand the nature of time? Rabbi Gershon Winkler teaches that “time...

Passover is a time that accentuates the importance of oneness and unity.  On seder night, we remember our historic roots and re-experience both the dark days in Egypt and our miraculous redemption from bondage. Jewish people across the globe feel...

In Tetzaveh, this week’s Torah portion, we learn that the High Priest was to wear a headdress to which a gold frontlet inscribed with “Holy to the Eternal” was attached by a blue cord. One might ask: Why was this gold frontlet attached to the...

Each year, as we prepare to read the final Torah portion in the book of Genesis, Parashat Vayechi, I am struck again by the opening verse of the portion: “And Jacob lived 17 years in the land of Egypt so that the total span of Jacob’s lifetime...

Whenever I start to study this week’s Torah Portion, Eikev, Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25, I am drawn to one particular verse. It is Deuteronomy 8:10, the context of which refers to the bounty of the Promised Land and the food it will provide. The verse states:...

We are told in Pirkei Avot (4:17) that there are three crowns, and “the crown of a good name surpasses them all.” This cliché, of course, has been used endlessly; yet, it is still relevant.  In our parsha, Sh’lach L’kha, we have the renowned...

After my transfer to a new elementary school in the fourth grade, I was offered the opportunity to play a musical instrument. Music had always been a huge part of my life, whether in synagogue, which I attended each Shabbat morning with my grandfather,...

It’s been more than a year since I began reading the Torah through COVID-colored glasses. Or perhaps more aptly, I’ve been reading Torah this year through a mask. Familiar stories and concepts in the Torah read differently from home, on Zoom, streaming,...

The “Sarajevo Haggadah,” handwritten and illustrated in 14th century Spain, was probably part of the expulsion from Spain in 1492. The details of how and when it arrived in Sarajevo, now the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, are not known. But it...

Remember when we used to congregate together in our synagogues, at the Jewish Community Center, at restaurants, in movie theaters and in other such meeting places? Remember when people wearing masks were usually about to commit a crime rather than protect...