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...

"We set out from Chorev and traversed the entire vast and awful (OR) great and awesome desert that you all saw, along the road to the hill country of the Amorites, as the Lord our God commanded us." - Deuteronomy 1:19 "Abba...Abba...you awake?" Truth...

First, a clarification: I'm writing about the traditional reading of the Yom Kippur Torah portion. For reasons I thoroughly understand your congregation may substitute a more "relevant" reading, however, I do feel the traditional reading has much to teach...

Charles de Gaulle is supposed to have have asked how he could govern a people with 246 cheeses.  This is a notable milestone on a long history of leaders (even great and beloved ones) complaining about the people they are supposed to lead. One of the...

Beginning a new book of Torah is a bit like greeting an old friend. The Book of Deuteronomy always begins in the heat of the summer, at the end of a ritual three weeks of diminished joy, on the Sabbath just before Tisha B'Av. Interestingly, the rabbis...

Of all of the emotions with which human beings have been equipped, the one which is the most discomfiting and often the most destructive is anger. Though this emotion - as all other human emotions - can be controlled and can actually be made to work...

This week's Torah Portion, Sh'lach L'cha, Numbers 13:1-15:41, is all about borders, boundaries and limits. The Sidrah starts with the story of the scouts, twelve in all, one leader from each tribe, dispatched by Moses at God's behest across the Jordan...