Acharei Mot – Kedoshim This week we have a double Torah portion, Acharei Mot and Kedoshim. Parashat Acharei Mot is familiar to us since it is the designated reading for Yom Kippur. The parashah begins with a detailed description of the Yom Kippur…
In the Kabbalat Shabbat Siddur used by the Congregation I grew up in Rio de Janeiro there was a meditation after the Amidah that I used to love. It paraphrased a passage from Abraham Joshua Heschel’s “Man’s Quest for God”. The…
Today is Yom HaAtzma’ut, Israel’s independence day. This day comes during the Omer period. Sefirat HaOmer (the counting of the Omer) is the period of 7 weeks between the second night of Pessah and the eve of Shavuot. I have explained previously that the omer was a…
In 1981, I spent a year in Israel at Machon Greenberg, a school in Jerusalem that trained teachers of Hebrew as a second language. I had finished the course to be an elementary school teacher in conjunction with high…
Everywhere I go, I use a mask, and gloves. I disinfect things as they come into my house. I cringe as I hear the numbers, of people infected with COVID-19, the number of deaths. I am living…
Today, Holocaust Memorial Day, I am revisiting a reflection I wrote about a brilliant man I met. A few years ago I had the opportunity to meet a holocaust survivor, from Italy. I am always uncomfortable asking…
Parashat Shemini Parashat Shemini opens with Moses telling Aaron and his sons about the guidelines for bringing offerings to the sanctuary as atonement for any sins that they or the people may have committed. Aaron follows Moses…
On the second night of Pessah, we started counting the omer. The omer is a measure of the barley crop that was brought to the ancient Temple in Jerusalem beginning on Pessah. Barley is an early crop, and our ancestors would bring…
Today’s Bissel Torah was written by Dr. Andrew Lovinger. This past Shabbat we read the special parashah for the Intermediate Shabbat of Pesach, which has a memorable theme that resonates with our times. It deals with the age-old human…
Tonight and tomorrow night, as well as in every daytime Pessah service we sing the Hallel, which includes Psalm 114. The Hebrew text begins with B’tzeht Israel. Let me share a few thoughts about this psalm with you. Psalm 114 1…