Whether it is in our search for a mate, an employee, a job, or an elected official, we begin with an ideal set of criteria. Usually, that list is wholly unreasonable. Even in the lab it would be difficult to create such a perfect match. That leaves us in the position of prioritizing our Continue Reading »
How long do you keep canned or jarred goods in your pantry? That’s where we keep the non-perishables, and were it not for Pesah cleaning, some of those food items might be older than we are. But we’re generally inclined to keep things moving off the shelves. Since we prefer to eat or cook with Continue Reading »
Parashat Bo is a favorite of Jewish educators. Three times we see instructions about giving instructions: Exodus 12:26-27, 13:8, and 13:14. In the first and third of the passages, it is expected that a child will prompt the lesson by asking a question; in the middle text, the adult is to take the lead and Continue Reading »
Like many other Jews, I had an Uncle Chaim who was a baker. He was from the Old Country, and because of his exalted place in our family (and probably because of his vocation, too), he had a standard job at all family simchas. He was the Motzi Man. In his apartment, you could see a Continue Reading »
It doesn’t take us long to get to know Moshe. In the very first episode we read of his adult life, we see he’s an activist. He’s not afraid to insert himself into a situation when he sees injustice. His impulsive response to seeing an Egyptian taskmaster beating an Israelite slave, his attempted intervention when Continue Reading »
This space is usually my medium for getting readers to think about an issue that emerges from the coming Shabbat’s Torah reading. We then continue the conversation during my Dvar Torah in shul on Shabbat morning. But this week, since we will have words of wisdom from the women of Sisterhood on Shabbat, I wanted Continue Reading »
As if we haven’t seen enough of this throughout the book of Bereshit, our parashah this week includes another episode of favoritism. “VeYisrael ahav et Yosef mikol banav–Now Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons” (Genesis 37:3). What is the Torah’s given reason for this? Because Yosef was a Ben-zekunim lo–a child born in Continue Reading »
The moment of truth is upon him. After 20 years of estrangement, Ya’akov cannot run from Esav any longer. Esav is headed directly for him, with a band of 400 ostensibly armed men. So Ya’akov divides his camp, giving one group a chance to escape in the event of an attack on the other. He Continue Reading »
December 24 2011/28 Kislev 5772 We tell two very different stories about Hanukkah. In one, the courageous Maccabees are the heroes, seizing their destiny by one hand with sword in the other. In another version, God is the Rescuer, providing the spiritual support for the military campaign, which was really secondary anyway to the true Continue Reading »
When I am in Israel, as I was this past week, it doesn’t take much to make me mindful of where I am. But I had a new experience of mindfulness last week at each weekday service I attended. It came in the blessing for sustenance in the daily Amidah, which has a seasonal variation. On Shemini Continue Reading »
