Using Our “God-Sparks” to Reconcile Our Relationships
What Does it Mean to Be Human?
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.
Are Women Counted in the Book of Numbers?
If I asked you to imagine a scientist in your mind’s eye, what image would emerge? A balding man in a white lab coat? A woman wearing thick glasses? A millennial glued to a laptop? How many of them would be women? This becomes relevant when we think of takin a census. Census-taking rolls like a sand dune through& Parashat B’midbar, which is also the Hebrew name for the fourth book of the Torah that we begin reading this week, known as the Book of Numbers in English. More than once in Numbers, God issues an order to count heads.
Women Facing Abuse as Suffragists and in the Torah
Did you know that Gloria Steinem’s grandmother, Pauline Perlmutter Steinem , was not only a sisterhood president of her Reform congregation, but also a suffragist? The legacy of activism in the Steinem family, paired with lessons learned from Parashat Naso, reminds us to be on guard against gender-based discrimination meant to preserve an unjust status quo.
Nevertheless, She Persisted… to Fill the World with Divine Blessings
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the United States this year, Rabbi Carole Balin, Ph.D., is sharing eight chapters of an "alternative Book of Numbers” designed to tell the stories of Jewish women who combined civic engagement with Jewish values in a 40-year
Siblings Squabbles with Purpose, from the Book of Numbers to the History Books
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the United States this year, Rabbi Carole Balin, Ph.D., is sharing eight chapters of an "alternative Book of Numbers” designed to tell the stories of Jewish women who combined civic engagement with Jewish values in a 40-year
Promised Land Delayed: Meet the Jewish Suffragist Who Changed History
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the United States this year, Rabbi Carole Balin, Ph.D., is sharing eight chapters of an "alternative Book of Numbers” designed to tell the stories of Jewish women who combined civic engagement with Jewish values in a 40-year
It’s Important To See the Whole Person, Not Just the Illness
I’ve never had great knees, but this was a bit much. At 32 years old, I was limping around, struggling to go up and down stairs, and just feeling terrible about it. Thankfully, surgery and physical therapy helped and I have long since recovered. The most important lesson I learned from my bad knees is one that I see reflected in this week’s Torah portion. Parashat Tazria-M’tzora teaches us about our physicality; its focus is on the skin, hair, fluids, and organs that make up our bodies. We learn how out of our control those things can be and we gain some insight into our relationships with those entrusted with our care.
Committing Ourselves to the Actions Required for Full Inclusion
At its best, the Torah can lift up humanity, reminding us of our place in the continually unfolding story of God’s Creation of the world and our role in the hopeful journey toward freedom. At its worst, it can serve as a tool for domination, oppression, hatred, and all that is base and vile within the human soul. As a gay man, I approached this week’s Torah portion, Acharei Mot-K'doshim, with a fair amount of trepidation.