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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...