- Benjamin, Bereshit, Chanukah, Dreams, Egypt, Family, Famine, Jacob, Joseph, Light, Maccabees, Menorah, Miketz, New Year, Parsha, Pharaoh, Prison, Trials
Don’t Let Your Light Go Out!
This is the week of our Chanukah celebration. Each night we lit candles and remembered the story of the Maccabees. This strong family served as a light for our people. The first book…
- Bereshit, Chanukah, Chanumas, Christmas, Dreams, Dreidel, Egypt, Genealogy, Generations, Jacob, Joseph, Judah, Light, Menorah, Parsha, Pharaoh, Potiphar, Prison, Tamar, Vayeishev
A Trustworthy Light
This week our family enjoyed celebrating the festivals of light together. We shared the timeless stories of the Bible (including the apocryphal books of Maccabees), we lit the menorah, spun dreidels, watched videos,…
- Altar, Benjamin, Bereshit, Dinah, Esau, Forgiveness, Jacob, Journey, Parsha, Rachel, Rape, Reconciliation, Vayishlah, Wrestling
Multiple Personas
This week the weather was much colder, leaving me and my fellow students bundled up even inside, seeking warm places to study for exams and write papers. We have only this weekend left…
- Bereshit, Bethel, Bilhah, Dreams, Esau, Jacob, Leah, Matriarchs, Parsha, Patriarchs, Presence, Rachel, Staircase, Tribe, Vayetzei, Zilpah
A Divine Presence
This week, Cincinnati got pretty cold. The weather experts say there’s a polar vortex moving through three quarters of the United States this week – well, I can tell. I’m bundling up on…
- Bereshit, Birthright, Differences, Esau, Generations, Hate, History, Isaac, Jacob, Matriarchs, Parsha, Patriarchs, Rebekah, Relationship, Shabbat, Toldot
Navigating Differences
Parashat Toldot kinda gives itself away in the title, since the first story presents the newest patriarch, Jacob, with his twin brother Esau. The central story of their fraternal conflict takes up the…
- Abraham, Advent, Bereshit, Chayyei Sarah, Death, Family, Genealogy, Generations, Isaac, Life, Parsha, Rebekah, Sarah, Stories, Thanksgiving
Matriarch Madness
This week has been…yeah, a week and a half! Between school assignments, eight hours of driving, and hanging out with family, my post on Parashat Chayei Sarah didn’t get done last weekend. And…
- Christian, Cincinnati, Interfaith, Isaac Mayer Wise, Islam, Jewish, Muslim, Pipe Organ, Plum Street Temple, Reform Judaism, Social Justice, Synagogues, Temple, Text Study
The Temple is a Place for Responsibility/Action!
This semester’s interfaith text study ended with a session discussing social responsibility. My group talked a lot about the centrality of social action to each religion represented (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). We also…
- Abraham, Akedah, Argument, Bereshit, Change, Isaac, Lekh Lekha, Messengers, Mundane, Parsha, Prayer, Questions, Righteous, Rosh Hoshannah, Sarah, Thanksgiving, Theology, Theophany, Vayera, Visitors
Changing G!d’s Mind
Last week int he parsha – and in national and world events – we were incited to action. Lekh Lekha, we have been instructed – GO! for yourselves (and for others) – we…
- Abraham, Allegiance, Bereshit, Comfort Zone, Confusion, Country, Division, Election, Fear, Isaiah, Lekh Lekha, Nation, Obedience, Parsha, Reward, Sarah, Shield, Truth, Ur
Stepping Out
Comfort zones are nice – especially those we didn’t know we occupied until they are violently yanked away from us. This week I, along with millions or even billions of other people across…
- Babel, Bereshit, Confusion, Covenant, Current Events, Election, Flood, Genealogy, Generations, Noach, Parsha, Questions, Rain, Rainbow, Septuagint, Stories, Voting
Floods, Confusion, & Elections
Welcome to the tensest weekend of 2016 – thanks to the upcoming election (in which over 31 million people have early voted). I think the parsha for the U.S. diaspora must be feelin’…