This week our spirits were pierced again with a time of national mourning as we commemorated the tragedy of 9/11. As we look out across the social landscape of America we wonder if God is chastising this nation or if we are in some stage of rebellion. Perhaps both at the same time.
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At a time when the modern State of Israel is at war, when we are daily praying for hostages, and the world is in upheaval, we must be focused, attentive, and ready for what will come.
Read MoreWe must have spiritual vision and depth perception to see clearly. “Turn my eyes away from gazing at vanity but revive me in Your ways” (Psalm 119:37). Instead of asking “Do you see what I see?” Re’eh asks, “Do you see what He sees?”
Read MoreIt is as our Rabbi Yeshua taught by quoting from this parasha while suffering the hardship of a forty-day fast in the wilderness: “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of Adonai."
Read MoreNothing breathes more life into a community than the sound of young children, laughing and playing. Even the sound of a baby’s cry, somewhere in the back of the room, can bring feelings of hope. Hope in the future, hope in the next generation, hope that there will be someone to teach.
Read MoreTisha b’Av keeps alive the memory of the whole Jewish story through the centuries, a story reflecting both the lament of exile and the hope of return.
Read MoreWe are people of the Book, a book made up of words. We are then, quite literally, a people of words. And when we “give our word” in the colloquial sense, we understand that God is watching and recording.
Read MorePinchas was zealous, not jealous. He knew the Lord, and knew that strict adherence to his rules was the only correct way to live. He was zealous for the Lord, not jealous of the lifestyle of the pagan nations.
Read MoreRecently at dinnertime, as the family sat around the table, the question came up, “Why do parents think more highly of their own children than others? Does that reflect bias?” And, the implication, “If so, is that bias . . . ok?”
Read MoreThe beauty of the red heifer was not in its life but in its death. It is more valuable in its death than it ever was in its life. In its death it changes forms. It does not cease its power, but it goes through a metamorphosis from the physical body to the ashes.
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