We must risk delight. We can do without pleasure,but not delight. Not enjoyment. We must havethe stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthlessfurnace of this world. To make injustice the onlymeasure of our attention is to praise the Devil. from Jack Gilbert, “A Brief for the Defense” This week we read parashat Ekev, inContinue reading “Shabbat Ekev: Down at the Heels”
Tag Archives: Jack Gilbert
Shabbat Nakhamu: The Courage to be Consoled
נַחֲמ֥וּ נַחֲמ֖וּ עַמִּ֑י יֹאמַ֖ר אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶֽם Nakhamu, nakhamu ami yomar Eloheykhem “Be consoled, my people, says your G*d” – Isaiah 40.1 Last Saturday night we commemorated Tisha B’Av, a date on which we remember not only the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple and our two-thousand year homelessness that followed. Jewish tradition also marks the 9th dayContinue reading “Shabbat Nakhamu: The Courage to be Consoled”
Shabbat Mishpatim: The Necessary Subversiveness of Delight
Be Happy, It’s Adar! How is it possible that we can be commanded to be happy on a given day? That on the first of Adar, two weeks from Purim, we should somehow manage to be joyful? The more we know of life, the more we are saddened. Global communication brings news of a friend’sContinue reading “Shabbat Mishpatim: The Necessary Subversiveness of Delight”
Torah for the 21st Century by Rabbi Ariel Stone 