“If you have a sapling in your hand, and someone should say to you that the Messiah has come, stay and complete the planting, and then go to greet the Messiah.” –Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai (Avot de Rabbi Nathan, 31b) With all due respect to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, their most famous creation, Superman, isContinue reading “The Mashiakh Is Not Coming”
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Yom Kippur 5784: Ethics of the Apocalypse
Introduction: something’s burning The time is urgent. As our ancestors put it in that ancient compendium of ethical sound bites called Pirke Avot, רַבִּי טַרְפוֹן אוֹמֵר, הַיּוֹם קָצָר וְהַמְּלָאכָה מְרֻבָּה, וְהַפּוֹעֲלִים עֲצֵלִים, וְהַשָּׂכָר הַרְבֵּה, וּבַעַל הַבַּיִת דּוֹחֵק Rabbi Tarfon said: The day is short and the work is much, and the workers are lazy, andContinue reading “Yom Kippur 5784: Ethics of the Apocalypse”
Shabbat Ki Tavo: You Need Ritual
וְהָיָה֙ כִּֽי־תָב֣וֹא אֶל־הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁר֙ ה’ אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ נֹתֵ֥ן לְךָ֖ נַחֲלָ֑ה וִֽירִשְׁתָּ֖הּ וְיָשַׁ֥בְתָּ בָּֽהּ When you come into the land that your God ‘ה is giving you as a heritage, and you possess it and settle in it (Deut. 26.1) The start of this week’s parashah records a very early (as far as our evidence goes) exampleContinue reading “Shabbat Ki Tavo: You Need Ritual”
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 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”
Torah for the 21st Century by Rabbi Ariel Stone 