Displaying 1 - 10 of 60
Stories We Tell: The Right Bell for the Right Place
Have you ever made a decision that you felt was the right thing to do, but could have benefited from someone else’s advice? This week, join Rabbi Steven Bob, the emeritus Rabbi from Etz Chaim in Lombard, Illinois as he tells a story about a man who purchases a fire bell for his small town, but things don’t go quite the way he expects.
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Stories We Tell: The Truth Telling Rabbi
Can two things be true at once? How do the ways we see ourselves and each other influence those truths? This week, join Rabbi Leora Kaye as she explores these questions through the story of a man seeking counsel from a wise and humble rabbi and someone who sees the rabbi just a bit differently.
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Stories We Tell: Devorah and the Gold Coins
Devorah’s friend Yoel has the right intentions when she asks him to watch over her prized possessions. However, just like honey, sometimes friendship can be both sticky and sweet. Join Rabbi Lisa Delson, as she shares the story of Devorah and the Gold Coins.
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Stories We Tell: The Boastful Farmer
Have you ever felt like you were the smartest or most important person in the room, only to realize you’re just as dependent on others as they are on you? This week, Rabbi Phyllis Sommer of Am Shalom in Glencoe, IL shares a story about a boastful farmer who had to learn this lesson himself.
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Why Did the People Demand New Leadership?
In this week’s Torah portion, Ki Tisa, we encounter one of the most troubling episodes in Israelite history and find ourselves, along with generations of commentators, searching for explanations — even excuses — to justify the Israelites’ behavior.
Our Name, Our Legacy
This moment when people gather to prepare a eulogy is always powerful. At first, they don't know where to begin, what to include, what to leave out. Do we write our own legacy? Not in words but by our character, by our deeds, by our gifts, by our way of walking through the world.
Inspirational Leadership
Perhaps more than all the patriarchs, Jacob is the one that struggles most with the invisible. He dreams, he envisions, he wrestles with unnamed. He sees, looks into the eyes of his nemesis, his enemy, and sees the face of God. His journey is a spiritual wandering towards discovery and self-awareness. He sees into the future and ultimately is a uniting force that actualizes that future.
Fear Is the Opposite of Love
The first word for fear is also the word for awe. As we gaze upon the mystery of the heavens, the boundary between awe and fear is ever so slight. We are awe struck by the vast unknown of God, and we are aware of our own smallness. We are afraid of our vulnerability at the same time we are in awe of the grandeur and the blessings that abound.
The Window of Noah’s Ark
We will never know the historicity of this great flood. Other cultures write of devasting floods, most notably the Babylonian narrative of the Epic of Gilgamesh.
Angel Spotting
I sat by the water, moving from sun to shadow, listening to the sound of the slight breeze creating a ripple effect. In the sky, an occasional seagull, butterfly of cinnamon color, or airplane would fly by. The world was in constant motion, and yet I sensed a stillness