by Rabbi Joel Dinin
Posted on December 29, 2022
Let us step back for a moment to a previous parsha, Vayeshev. After losing two sons who were meant to have children with Tamar, Yehuda was concerned about losing a third. The fates of his eldest sons, Er and Onan, were brought on by their own wickedness, yet Tamar was the one who was punished—Yehuda’s selfishness, founded on self preservation, led to Tamar being denied children and a family, just as Yehuda’s actions nearly denied children and a family to Yosef and in many ways denied Yaakov his most beloved son.…
by Rabbi Joel Dinin
Posted on December 22, 2022
I have many names; Joel, rabbi, daddy, sweetie, “Hey you get out of my way”—But which one of these is my real name? The simple answer is—all of them, but how can that be true? A name is NOT who we are, it’s what we do in our connections with other people.…
by Rabbi Joel Dinin
Posted on December 15, 2022
The tale of Yoseph in this week’s parsha, Vayeishev, includes elements of tragedy, redemption and ultimately triumph. His envious brothers, rather than kill him in anger, are convinced to sell him as a slave, leading him to Egypt. Only through a miracle of God, his gift to interpret dreams, is he saved and made great in the eyes of the whole nation.…
by Rabbi Joel Dinin
Posted on December 8, 2022
In this week’s parsha, Vayishlach, Yaakov is scared, afraid. He is vulnerable. He is running from his brother Esav, even though he is the one who brought this situation on himself. Yaakov has sent his family away, not sure that he is ever going to see them again.…
by Raffi Levi
Posted on December 1, 2022
Is it possible that Truth is different in different settings? Or is Truth always only one thing? (Or, can both of these be true?) The Rabbis say “elu v’elu divrei Elokim chaim”—that these and those are the words of a living God.…
by Raffi Levi
Posted on November 22, 2022
What is Judaism’s take on the goal of spiritual living? Importantly, what is the essential realization we need in order to live with sacredness? In this week’s parsha, after Yitzchak struggles to survive a famine and risks his life by visiting the king Avimelekh, he comes home and decides… to plant!…
by Raffi Levi
Posted on November 17, 2022
How can we make our religious experience sustainable? In other words, how do we maintain a sense of connection with HaShem even when we are not doing a mitzvah? Often, our experience of Judaism can feel reserved. Whether it is reserved for the Shabbat table, for holidays, for the synagogue, or for prayer.…
by Raffi Levi
Posted on November 10, 2022
What can we do to easily create intentional motivation in our lives? I often find that when I have trouble beginning an important and challenging task, the simple transition of taking a deep breath helps make the whole process much easier.…
by Dvir Cahana
Posted on November 3, 2022
My grandmother, Alice Lok Cahana, Hinda Aliza bat Yehuda, was thrown into the gas chamber. Though she was crunched between 200 terrified people, at that moment she was completely and utterly alone. Staring death in the face, she contemplated her 15 years on earth.…
by Dvir Cahana
Posted on October 27, 2022
(The following is a constructed midrash of the final days on the ark) It was a brisk afternoon in late October. Noah looked out from his Teiva and noticed how the tips of the mountains had begun exposing their nibs through the ocean foam.…
by Dvir Cahana
Posted on October 20, 2022
In the opaque smoke of battered trust and unrelinquished uncertainty through the void of the pandemic, the upcoming 2022 midterm election serves as a momentary relief, suspending us outside of our worn pessimism. The ability to have a say in future outcomes seems like such a scarce resource these days and restores us with a sense of empowerment.…
by Tadhg Cleary
Posted on October 6, 2022
The Rema—the great Halakhic Codifier of Ashkenazi Jewry—rules that we should build the sukkah on the day after Yom Kippur (starting even right after we break the fast) (Orach Chaim, 624:5-625:1). Some infer that, ideally, we are not supposed to even begin construction of the sukkah at all during the Aseret Yemei Teshuva—the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.…
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