Why God Broke Our Wine Glasses
Previously, on Facebook:
We have broken two wine glasses in two days.
The Gun Debate: "There is No Pathos in These Debates"
All of these arguments going on around me, arguments about whether we have the right to have guns, or whether guns kill people or people kill people, or whether gun control will save lives.
iPhone Shabbat Mode
As a Reform Jew, I lead a largely secular life. Most of my friends aren't Jewish. My daily schedule is governed more by school hours and work demands than it is by rituals of worship. And the synagogue plays only a peripheral role in my life.
Early Hanukkah in 2013: Jewish Calendar Fun
Whenever I'm asked if the Jewish holidays are coming early or late this year, I promptly answer that they'll be coming on time. And that's partially true. Rosh Hashanah will always arrive on the first day of the Jewish month of Tishrei just as Hanukkah will always begin on the 25th of Kislev.
In Honor of Tu BiShvat, Some Facts About Trees
Tu BiShvat, the birthday of the trees (or the new year of the trees) is a minor Jewish holiday.
Miracles: They're Not Just for Hanukkah Anymore
I’m not even certain of the year, but it was sometime after the tattoo and before the death march. Aron Lieb was in his early twenties, but he felt elderly. He was working in a coal mine, forced by the Nazis to supply fuel for their war effort.
Galilee Diary: The Only Thing We Have to Fear
…Be strong and of good courage; be not frightened, neither be dismayed; for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
-Joshua 1:9
40 Years of Wandering: The Anniversary of Roe v. Wade
Nothing in the Torah is coincidental. The repeated use of certain words, the choice of names, the span of time—everything is linked to a greater or deeper theological meaning. Nowhere is this more so than with numbers.
Galilee Diary: Noise
…There was a great and mighty wind, splitting mountains and shattering rocks by the power of the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind – an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake – fire; but the Lord was not in the fire.