Is it Time for More?
Last week, I had the opportunity to speak with a visitor to our website, a woman in her mid-50s. Sarah* was baptized as a child and grew up "in the church," but always felt an affinity to the Jewish People. She even recalls mentioning to her parents that she wished...
Get Your Self Out of the Way!
As mentioned previously, the 50 days between the holidays of Passover and Shavuos are known as the time of "Counting the Omer." Today is the 33rd day of the count, the holiday of Lag B'Omer, which is notable for two reasons. Twenty-Four thousand students of Rabbi...
Life Beyond Internet
On Monday, Paul Miller, a Senior Editor at a "technology-focused news publication" called The Verge, announced that he was quitting the Internet for a year. He's switched to a "dumb" phone, and has pledged to neither use the Internet nor ask others to use it for him,...
Spiritual Rehab
One finds an interesting theme in regards to the Metzora, one physically stricken with the spiritual disease of Tzara'as which causes blemishes to appear on skin, clothing, or the walls of the home. The word "Metzora", the Talmud writes, can be understood as a...
The Powers That Be
This week, I cannot refer to "this week's reading" and be universally accurate. The Torah portion read this week in Israel is "out of sync" with the rest of the world, a phenomenon that will continue for another month. This is because while Israel celebrates the holy...
A Toast for the Aramean?
In just a few days Jewish families around the world will recount the story of the Exodus from Egypt. At the center of the Haggadah, Passover’s universal guidebook, is the raising of the wine glasses in recognition of G-d’s promise to Abraham to redeem the Jews...