B’reishit The Bible’s creation story conveys vital lessons: the world is good; there is a unifying intentionality in creation; and humans are fashioned in the image of God, with the culminating charge to make time holy. These descriptions of creation are not scientific, but a foundational worldview. Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson writes in  Renewing the Process of Creation (Jewish Lights, 2016) that…

Sukkoth The prophet Amos declared (3:8),“Shall a lion roar and who would not fear?” My Talmud teacher, Dr. Elieser Slomovic, said that in the mountains of Eastern Europe where he grew up they did not have lions. But, pious Jews lived with fear of God and read the word lion in Hebrew- ERYeH- as an acronym for the milestones of this penitential…

Ha’Azinu: Our Torah reading begins, “Give ear, O heavens, let me speak; Let the earth hear the words that I utter!” The reference to the heavens and earth listening are only metaphors. Paganism believed that nature in all its parts was alive. Spirits possessed trees and lakes and the sky. Those spirits were fickle and demanded bribes. Priests offered incantations to those unpredictable…

Va’Yeilekh: God’s final command to Moses, as conveyed in this week’s parashah, is “Write a [farewell] song to the people” (Deuteronomy 31:19). Songs are poems put to music. They have added power because music evokes and amplifies emotion. It also allows us to memorize. Hence, we learn the a,b,c’s and the aleph bet with a melody. Likewise, the power of Kol Nidre, which we…

L’shanah tovah u’metukah– May you be blessed with a good and sweet new year! The rabbis explain that what is good may emerge from struggle and even pain. In looking forward we pray that the new year will allow that goodness to emerge from ease and joy. From my family and me to you: Blessings of a 5777 of health, abundant harvest,…