“Be holy as HaShem is holy.” Our days are full of unnerving paradoxes, and this week was no exception: This week George Floyd’s killer was found guilty of murder despite being a white police officer, AND police with the identical training killed Andrew Brown, Daunte Wright, Ma’khia Bryant and, here in Portland, Robert Delgado. ThisContinue reading “Shabbat Akharei Mot-Kedoshim: One Step At A Time”
Monthly Archives: April 2021
Shabbat Tazria-Metzora: The Elixir of Life
מִי-הָאִישׁ, הֶחָפֵץ חַיִּים Mi ha’Ish he’Hafetz Hayim? Who is the one who desires life? – Psalm 34.13 The early Shabbat morning prayers called p’sukei d’zimra (verses of song) are a way for us to prepare spiritually to pull aside our Zoom veils and seek the presence of holiness together They include some rather direct opportunitiesContinue reading “Shabbat Tazria-Metzora: The Elixir of Life”
Shabbat Shemini: You Can Rise Up
The fifty days between the two harvest festivals of Pesakh and Shavuot are traditionally counted. The daily count is called Sefirat haOmer, the “counting of the [barley] measure,” because in the unceasing toil of ancient agricultural subsistence, every day of the harvest was a time to count in gratitude and in hope for continuing harvest.Continue reading “Shabbat Shemini: You Can Rise Up”
Shabbat hol hamo’ed Pesakh: the Imperative of Joy
On Sunday evening at our Second Seder we counted the plagues: world wide pandemic and more than 2.5 million souls lost Oregon fires Texas ice storm George Floyd economic hardship assault on the U.S. Capitol children in U.S. concentration camps 31 million people without health insurance white supremacy violence The Federal government repeatedly using weaponsContinue reading “Shabbat hol hamo’ed Pesakh: the Imperative of Joy”
We Need a Nekhemta
Spring is here – and with it, more light! We can go outside, safely distanced, and bask in sunshine. Relief for light, and the ability to see more and further, is a natural response. We are like the new growth it the spring, flowering in delight. But after the last 9 days, with eight massacredContinue reading “We Need a Nekhemta”
Torah for the 21st Century by Rabbi Ariel Stone 