How long do we or should we grieve and follow the process of bereavement for the loss of a loved one?
While I am not an expert on the topic of grieving nor follower/student of Dr. Joel Roffman or David Kessler (grief experts), I turned to what all of us Kehilah scholars may do to find […]
In 5779, Joel delivered the dvar for Lech Lecha and I delivered the dvar the following week for Vayera. And here we are, in 5780 following the same pattern.
Are we in a rut? Following on the heels of Lech Lecha and Joel talking about “Go. Become.” I have to wonder if that is exactly what […]
Lech Lecha – what does it mean? it could simply mean, “Go forth,” but look, this is Jewish scripture. It has been parsed for centuries. For rabbis, the more cryptic, the better. And also, the words are followed by such evocative phrases like, “to a land that I will show you,” and, “I will bless […]
In this week’s parashah we read the story of Noah. The parashah begins with the following statement: “Noah was a righteous man; he was blameless in his age.” Rabbi Jonathan Sacks notes that Noah is the only individual in Tanakh described as righteous. No such praise is given to Abraham or Moses or any of […]
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 […]
Haazinu Hashamayim Va’adaberah: “Incline your ear, O Heaven, and I will speak.” This begins the song that Moshe is instructed by G-d to prepare for the children of Israel. Why Haazinu rather than Shema? The word haazin connotes a greater readiness to perceive and accept that which is being spoken than does the word shema […]
This is my paternal lineage
The descendants of Natan ha Kohen.
Yosef ben Natan ha Kohen – Born 1864 Russia begot
Nachum ben Yosef ha Kohen – Born 1890 in Birmingham – begot
Moshe ben Nachum ha Kohen begot
Aharon Shalom ben Moshe ha Kohen – Born 1960 (that’s me)
The maternal side of my family is only traceable to my […]
Last month, I saw a patient in the office named Mike. Mike is a fully alert and competent 77-year-old man who has been through lots of heart and circulatory issues. He had a major heart attack in 1990, 29 years ago, when he was 48. It left his heart quite damaged. He had 4-vessel coronary […]
It seems like only yesterday. However, seventy-five, eighty years have passed since the Holocaust. My heart bleeds when I think about the loss of my ancestors. My soul cries out in pain for them and the millions who were slaughtered. What was their sin to lead to such a terrible end? Being Jewish? They were flesh and blood […]
There is a familiar story of a man searching the sidewalk for his keys and looking frantically under the streetlight. When questioned by a passerby who found out that the man was searching for his keys, the man admits that he lost the keys inside his house. However, since the light was so much brighter […]
