One of my favorite things about TuBiShvat is that it portends the arrival of spring. When my family and I lived in Israel, we used to go out to the Carmel Forest near Haifa on TuBiShvat to see the cyclamens and the almond blossoms, the first signs of new life. Even in Israel, which is Continue Reading »
Thanksgiving and the pandemic sound like a contradiction in terms. A plague is ravaging our country. What have we to be grateful for? A lot, actually! And, it is precisely when we are beset by troubles that it becomes all the more important to practice gratitude, if for nothing other than our mental health. Giving Continue Reading »
A Message for Shabbat & Simchat Torah In 1999 I was invited to write the following commentary for the URJ 10 Minutes of Torah. It was subsequently published in a URJ Press collection of Torah teachings. I share it with you now on the eve of Simchat Torah to lift your hearts and inspire us Continue Reading »
Have you ever wanted to build your own sukkah but thought the task was too daunting? Well, fear no more! TBE’s own Dave Cohen designed a simple DIY Sukkah. Recently, Dave constructed the sukkah on video to demonstrate just how easy it is to build. Here are links to the diagram and video instructions. Diagram Continue Reading »
At this time of summer, the days begin to approach the month of Elul, a month of reflection and looking inward, leading into the High Holy days. We are also in the midst of the seven weeks of comfort following Tisha B’Av, when the Haftarah each week is selected from the book of Isaiah, and Continue Reading »
July 17, 2020 25 Tammuz 5780 This Shabbat is one of those traditionally called Mevarechim, a Shabbat on which we recite the blessing for the new month in anticipation of Rosh Chodesh (the first day of the new Hebrew month). The coming Hebrew month is the month of Av. The most mournful day of the Continue Reading »
“In every generation we must see ourselves as if we personally went forth from Egypt…” (The Haggadah) Until now, I have never fully appreciated the significance of these two little words, “as if.” In Hebrew, one word suffices to say this, and that word is “k’ilu.”Children seem to understand innately the possibilities of k’ilu. Continue Reading »
Seder means “order” in Hebrew, and on Passover it refers to the order of the service we conduct to relive the journey from bondage to freedom. This year as we prepare for Passover we are out of order, or, as we say in Hebrew, we are lo b’seder, we are not okay. Just a few Continue Reading »
Our tradition teaches: “When Adar arrives, joy increases.” But this year, it is all too obvious that joy has become increasingly elusive with each passing day of Adar leading up to tonight’s celebration of Purim. Instead of joy, anxiety has increased as we have watched the spread of the coronavirus (thankfully, not significantly in New Continue Reading »
The High Holy Days span the period of forty days from Rosh Chodesh Elul to Yom Kippur. According to our tradition, this corresponds to the forty days Moses spent atop Mount Sinai receiving the second set of Tablets. Little has been passed down to us about what was happening down below among the people while Continue Reading »
