Author Archives: rabbiariel

Shabbat Ki Tetze: It’s Uncertain Out There

וּכְתַבְתָּ֛ם עַל־מְזֻז֥וֹת בֵּיתֶ֖ךָ וּבִשְׁעָרֶֽיךָ׃ {ס}  inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deut. 6.9) Our parashat hashavua this week is ki tetze, “if you go out”. We go out of many realities: from sleep to waking, from a safe space to the uncertainty of the Outside, and from our own sense ofContinue reading “Shabbat Ki Tetze: It’s Uncertain Out There”

Shabbat Shoftim: If Not Now, When?

וְיִגַּ֥ל כַּמַּ֖יִם מִשְׁפָּ֑ט וּצְדָקָ֖ה כְּנַ֥חַל אֵיתָֽן׃ But let justice well up like water, Righteousness like a torrential river. (Amos 5.24) We are appropriately proud of our prophetic tradition and its insistence upon “just balances, just weights, a just efah, and a just hin” (Lev. 19.36) in our business dealings, as well as the social imperativeContinue reading “Shabbat Shoftim: If Not Now, When?”

Shabbat Re’eh: Blessings and Curses – what can you see from here?

רְאֵ֗ה אָנֹכִ֛י נֹתֵ֥ן לִפְנֵיכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם בְּרָכָ֖ה וּקְלָלָֽה׃  See, this day I set before you blessing and curse (Deuteronomy 11.26) Our parashat hashavua is the last before the month of Elul, in which we prepare spiritually for the High Holy Days. It starts as plainly and starkly as possible: Look. The word ראה re’eh in HebrewContinue reading “Shabbat Re’eh: Blessings and Curses – what can you see from here?”

Shabbat Ekev: Limping Toward Wholeness

“Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything; that’s how the light gets in.” – Leonard Cohen וְהָיָ֣ה ׀ עֵ֣קֶב תִּשְׁמְע֗וּן אֵ֤ת הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים֙ הָאֵ֔לֶּה וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֥ם וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֖ם אֹתָ֑ם וְשָׁמַר֩ ה’ אֱלֹהֶ֜יךָ לְךָ֗ אֶֽת־הַבְּרִית֙ וְאֶת־הַחֶ֔סֶד אֲשֶׁ֥ר נִשְׁבַּ֖ע לַאֲבֹתֶֽיךָ And if you do obey these rules and observe them carefully, your G*d ‘ה will maintain faithfully forContinue reading “Shabbat Ekev: Limping Toward Wholeness”

Shabbat Nakhamu: The Secret of Resilience

On the night of 22 Kislev 4957 [1196], Rabbi Eleazar ben Judah of Worms was engaged on his commentary on Genesis; he had reached the parashah VaYeshev. Suddenly two crusaders entered his house and killed his wife Dulcina, his two daughters Belat and Hannah, and his son Jacob.  Rabbi Eleazar went on to author HaRoke’akh,Continue reading “Shabbat Nakhamu: The Secret of Resilience”

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”

Shabbat Emor: Teach Us To Count Our Days

Why is the language of lovemaking so hard to learn?  Why is the body so often dumb flesh? Why does the mind so often choose to fly away at the moment  the word waited for all one’s life is about to be spoken? (Alice Walker, the Temple of My Familiar) Beginning on the second eveningContinue reading “Shabbat Emor: Teach Us To Count Our Days”

Shabbat Akharei Mot-Kedoshim: After Death, Holiness?

Not yet. This week we marked the 75th year since the declaration of independence of the modern State of Israel (we say it that way because this is the third time that Jews have been in a position of self-rule in our at least three thousand year history).  When the state was founded, the AshkenaziContinue reading “Shabbat Akharei Mot-Kedoshim: After Death, Holiness?”