By Rabbi Mordecai Miller
• Published April 6, 2011
At any point in the day we are subject to some kind of mood. Just like colors, some may be intense and some may be almost bland. Surprise, pleasure, stress, joy, security, anxiety, anger, dislike, depression, dismay, anticipation, disappointment - the...
By Ellen Futterman, Editor
• Published March 23, 2011
Fashionably frum for Pesach Who says modest clothing has to look frumpy? Certainly not the women's division of St. Louis Kollel, which has organized a fashion extravaganza called "Princess with Pride" for women and teens from 6:30 to 10 p.m. Tuesday,...
BY RABBI SEVERINE HAZIZA-SOKOL
• Published December 15, 2010
In Va-y'chi we witness the only deathbed scene in the entire Torah. Our patriarch Jacob prepares for his departure from this world. And yet the parasha is not deliberately morbid, confining and drained of vitality. The first words we read place emphasis...
By Rabbi Lane Steinger
• Published November 4, 2010
Picture the aged Patriarch, confined to his bed, eyes too dim to see. He summons his oldest child, his first born and favorite son. Isaac says to Esau, the hirsute outdoorsman, the manly hunter, "Make for me tasty dishes such as I love and bring them...
by Rabbi Mordecai Miller
• Published September 29, 2010
One of the most eye-opening classes I was privileged to attend during my years at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institue of Religion, Cincinnati, Ohio was the elective given by Professor Chanan Brichto. His subject was the opening chapters of Genesis...
By Rabbi James Stone Goodman
• Published September 1, 2010
On this day [Rosh Hashanah] the moon is covered, and it does not shine until the tenth day, when Israel turns. — Zohar On Selichot, we introduce the notions that we will pick up and follow through the days of Awe. Selichot are piyyutim (piyyut from...
BY RABBI JOSEF A. DAVIDSON
• Published August 18, 2010
When a nation goes to war against its enemies, it is not unusual for soldiers, who are usually very young and unable to participate in the normal social activities of youth, to come upon women in the time of battle and to view them as objects subject...
BY RABBI RANDY FLEISHER
• Published August 12, 2010
On the ‘wish list' for our synagogue sanctuary is to have a pasuk, a sentence or phrase from a Jewish text tastefully sculpted onto the wall above the ark. One of our top choices is from Shofetim, this week's Torah portion: "Justice, justice, shall...
By Rabbi Dale Schreiber
• Published August 4, 2010
There is a proverb that reads, ‘without vision, people perish.' The Torah projects a vision for what is humanly possible. This week's portion, Re'eh, is found in Deuteronomy, the book which emphasizes social justice, personal ethics and neighborly responsibility....
By Rabbi Brigitte Rosenberg
• Published July 14, 2010
Have you ever felt that you are on a long journey that seems endless? I think this feeling of endlessness must have been what it felt like for the Israelites when wandering the desert for 40 years. What is most interesting about their journey is that...
The book of Bemidbar (Numbers) concludes with this week's double portion, Mattot/Mas`ei (tribes/journeys). Thirty-eight years have transpired, during which the slave generation has given way to a generation born in freedom in the wilderness. It is...
In many years of listing to teachers and colleagues preaching from the pulpit, I've never heard a rabbi utter something like, "Last night I prayed, and God told me that I should do ..."; the notion that Jews have a direct line to the Almighty is generally...
