How can we help children cope with natural disasters?
Hearing about and seeing images of people weeping, clutching loved ones in relief or in grief while standing in front of devastated homes and schools evokes painful feelings of sadness, fear and helplessness.
Why Do We Light Two Candles at the Beginning of Shabbat?
The traditional practice is to light two candles on Shabbat.
Does listening to a podcast count as study? Is it OK to say the blessing if I’m listening to commentary without reading or hearing the Torah portion?
Listening to the podcast definitely counts as Torah study. It’s an opportunity to learn a bit of Torah and start to think about the weekly Torah while also incorporating some modern-day thinking into the traditional message.
Do Reform Jews Believe in the Messiah?
In the Jewish prayer book, the siddur, there are references to an “end of days”: the Temple in Jerusalem will be rebuilt, the dead who were righteous will be resurrected, and a figure known as the Messiah, or in Hebrew the Moshiach, will restore Israel to new-found glory.
The Gift of Grief
In an almost imperceptible yet seismic shift, this week’s Parshat Chukat jumps us a few decades ahead in the wilderness journey of the Israelites. Maybe we need a movie screen caption that reads, “thirty-eight years later.”
Rebelling in the Name of Heaven - or Not
Few issues touch the Reform Jewish soul like those of rebellion and authority. In our synagogues one sees teenagers wearing "Question Authority" buttons and hears adults affirming individual autonomy as the cardinal principal of Reform Judaism.
Rebel Without a Cause
A friend of mine once made the observation that America is a culture in which a person might scrawl graffiti on a wall that says "Challenge Authority," and another person will cross it out, Challenge Authority.
Summer Heat and Inner Warmth
Although the summer seems to be the season of rest and tranquillity, in truth, every reader of the Torah begins this time with a boiling conflict.
Evil Flourishes When Good People Do Nothing
The centerpiece of this week's portion, Korach, is Korach's challenge of Moses and Aaron's leadership. Dathan, Abiram, and two hundred and fifty elders join Korach in the revolt, claiming that they have an equal right to lead.