Are we ready for what tomorrow may bring us? Do we have our affairs in order? Do we have a chain of succession? Are we even willing to make ourselves prepared to face what’s in front of us now, let alone what will be in front of us in the future? These questions are of great importance in every generation because we’re a people of continuity. We’re a people who live by the value of לדור ודור/L’Dor v’Dor (in each and every...Read more...
We returned from Camp Ramah Darom on Sunday afternoon and it’s great to be back. We love our time at Camp each summer and reconnecting with friends and a place that’s a second home to us. We love the opportunity to witness the future of the Jewish people unfolding right in front of us. We love seeing our daughters smiling from ear to ear as they’re immersed in a Jewish environment and given so many meaningful and fun opportunities. I...Read more...
Anyone with even a limited understanding of Jewish prayer knows well that our prayers are very “fixed,” as in scripted and liturgical. On the surface, it would seem that the model of praying with a liturgy gives little room for the interjection of one’s own personal and heartfelt prayers. This being the case, it’s fair to ask, “What place do my own personal prayers have in a fixed, liturgical prayer?”
The name of this week’s parsha, Behalotecha, translates to “when you raise”, in reference to the lamps of the menorah in the Mishkan (Tabernacle) that Aaron is commanded to raise. God instructs Moses on the procedures for Israel’s journeys and encampments in the desert, and they journey from Mount Sinai where they camped for nearly a year, to receive the Torah. The Israelites become displeased with their manna...Read more...
This Shabbat, we’ll begin reading the fourth book of the Torah, Sefer Bamidbar which, depending on your translation of the Tanakh (bible), you'll see as "in the desert" or "in the wilderness". Our ancestors’ journey from the time they crossed the sea until they entered the land of Israel took 40 years. Yet according to Google maps, this journey, a walk from Cairo to Eilat, should only take 7 days.
