Stories We Tell: The Bird Catcher
Stories We Tell: Get Up and Go Early
Accepting Advice From Your Father-in-Law
This week’s Torah portion, Parashat Yitro, is remarkable. Only six Torah portions (out of a total of 54) are named for one of the individuals advancing the drama within its text. ... And this portion is named for Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro (Yitro) — a non-Israelite, Midianite priest. In the portion, Yitro offers sage advice and Moses accepts it.
Stories We Tell: What it Takes to Get in
Everything Old Can Be New Again
A few weeks ago, in studying Parashat R'eih, I noted that the Torah gives us a great gift of joy—a command to celebrate with one's entire household—tucked into a long passage replete with warnings of failures and curses literally shouted from the mountaintops.
A Jew Is a Jew, No Matter How Far
In Parashat Nitzavim (Deuteronomy 29:9-30:20), Moses is coming to the end of his oration, the end of his leadership, and the end of his life.
There Is “No” Other
When I am preparing a family for the funeral of a loved one, we meet privately to recite the phrase Baruch Dayan HaEmet, "Blessed is the True Judge," as we put a tear in the black k'riah ribbons of mourning. We acknowledge that saying the words and hearing the sound are harsh.
So, What’s the Point? Ecclesiastes and Chol HaMo-eid Sukkot
Chances are that many of us are familiar only with the section of Ecclesiastes that begins "To everything there is a season," only because we've heard it at a funeral or – thanks to the late Pete Seeger – at a hootenanny.