Displaying 1 - 10 of 36
Torah as Our Guide and Companion
Parashat Lech L’cha is the beginning of the story of the Jewish people. Yet, what can we call a beginning?
The Heart of Torah: How Our Actions Bring it to Life
What makes the Torah different from any other book we read?
I posed this question years ago to a group of second graders as we began a lesson about Simchat Torah.
What Does it Mean to Be Human?
Parashat B’reishit is both the first portion in the Torah and the foundation of our Jewish tradition. These chapters teach us how to find meaning in our days, not just what happened before they began.
Wholly Jewish: Denis: Coming Out and Showing Up
Hosted by Jewish performance and ritual artist Shira Kline (she/her), a.k.a. ShirLaLa, this season features interviews with LGBTQ+ Jews from the Union for Reform Judaism's JewV'Nation Fellowship.
Audio file
The Divine is No Ordinary Parent: Lessons from One God to One People
No other Torah portion is as well known or fires the imagination as much as Parashat Noach – but the story includes a number of problematic elements.
Let the Blessings Flow
Talking about God can be complicated, especially when, like me, you don't always know what you believe. One tradition I use as a parent to help give my children a sense of spirituality can be found in this week's Torah portion, Naso. This portion highlights everyone's ability to be a K'lei Kodesh, or sacred vessel, by blessing others and thus receiving God's blessing ourselves.
Embracing Divine Imperfection
On the way home from school one day, my then five-year-old son asked me, "Mom, if nobody's perfect and all people are made in the image of God, doesn't that mean that God isn't perfect?" His question then, and even now, is not easy to answer.
Letting our Land Rest: Shmitah and the Release of Expectations
In this week's Torah portion, B'har, we learn God's command that the Israelites must, every seven years, engage in a practice called shmitah. And every seven sets of seven, an ultimate shmitah, called the yovel, or Jubilee, year.
Making Room for the New
Early in this week's parashah, we encounter the following phrase: V'yashan mipnei chadash totziu - You shall have to clear out the old to make room for the new.
In the Wilderness – B'midbar
This week's Torah portion and the book it comes from are called B'midbar, or, in the wilderness. The title comes from the first meaningful word in the text, in contrast to a title that is a summation of the text's core ideas. In the case of B'midbar, both ring true, for the Israelites in the Torah as well as for people today.