When I think of Passover, I don’t think of it as a time for going to shul… at least not until the last couple of days when we say Yiskor. The seder is the ultimate Jewish experience because it happens in the home, lending credence to the thought that Judaism is away of life, not […]
If leaders are to bring out the best in those they lead, they must give them the chance to show they are capable of great things, and then they must celebrate their achievements. That is what happens at a key moment toward the end of our parsha, one that brings the book of Exodus to […]
What dreams may come
Have your dreams gotten stranger since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic? According to Dr. Deirdre Barrett, psychologist and dream researcher at Harvard, “any crisis tends to stir up our dream lives.”
In her interview on Science Friday on NPR, Dr. Barrett “That’s been ongoing since the start of the pandemic. But most […]
Have you had your Covid-19 vaccine yet? Are you planning on getting the series yourself? What kind of messages have you heard about the vaccines? Are you skeptical? Do you trust the person who is giving you the information about the vaccine?
Parasha Vaera opens with Moses talking to G-d, who has just told him that […]
This week’s Torah portion, Shoftim (Hebrew for “judges”), contains a series of laws directing the nascent Israelite community on how to establish a just society. The issues it covers include many that we still struggle with in our society today: setting up a fair and impartial legal system, making distinctions between murder and manslaughter, establishing […]
I don’t usually fret much when writing a d’var. A portion of the reading stands out to me and I work with it, researching, reading and contemplating the topics. Parasha Shemot- while being a rather short Parasha, left me feeling alternately upset and disturbed and then later uplifted. This is not an easy reading to […]
My grandfather (may he rest in peace) was named Simcha Natan in Hebrew. Simcha, meaning joy is the word I most associate with this time of year. Each day of Sukkot in a traditional synagogue, you will see the hakafot, where the congregants dance around the building with the lulav and etrog in hand; seven […]
How do you like your Matzah? Butter? Cream cheese and jelly? As a matzah pizza or lasagna? Scrambled in eggs as Matzah brei? However you like it, breakfast, meal, snack or dessert, I am sure that by today, the eighth day, you are probably tired of being matzah-creative! Like me, you might be suffering from […]
While doing some research for a session on listening skills, I ran across a quote from Steven Covey that “most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” I started to listen more carefully to conversations around me and realized that this had become unfortunately true in […]
