June 2023 – Torah for the 21st Century by Rabbi Ariel Stone

Shabbat Hukkat-Balak

A shul is a thing. Some people never get it; they drift through our intentional community, enjoying its benefits, and never feel a sense of being part of it. Some people thrive on it: they snuggle in happily, deep among the branches of the Tree of Life, making a nest that survives every storm. AndContinue reading “Shabbat Hukkat-Balak”

Shabbat Korakh: the end of Both-Sides-ism

כָּל מַחֲלֹקֶת שֶׁהִיא לְשֵׁם שָׁמַיִם, סוֹפָהּ לְהִתְקַיֵּם. וְשֶׁאֵינָהּ לְשֵׁם שָׁמַיִם, אֵין סוֹפָהּ לְהִתְקַיֵּם. אֵיזוֹ הִיא מַחֲלֹקֶת שֶׁהִיא לְשֵׁם שָׁמַיִם, זוֹ מַחֲלֹקֶת הִלֵּל וְשַׁמַּאי. וְשֶׁאֵינָהּ לְשֵׁם שָׁמַיִם, זוֹ מַחֲלֹקֶת קֹרַח וְכָל עֲדָתוֹ: Every principled dispute will in the end endure; But one that is not will not endure. Which is the controversy that principled? Such wasContinue reading “Shabbat Korakh: the end of Both-Sides-ism”

Shabbat Lekh L’kha: Wandering Is Not Punishment

This week it happens – the shattering of hope in a way that is not reparable. What our ancestors thought would be a short journey from the foot of Mt Sinai to the land they were promised became endless. Because, the story goes, at the moment when courage was required, they could not trust. And so, weContinue reading “Shabbat Lekh L’kha: Wandering Is Not Punishment”