- Board of Governors, Cantor, Cincinnati, Education, Family, Finance, HUC, Interfaith, Jewish, Market Crash, Math, Music, NCSSM, New York, PhD, Professor, Religion, Second Temple Period, Triangle, WRRD
Integrating Chelsea into HUC
Last weekend I had the privilege of sharing with the school’s Board of Governors my story – who I am, my background, previous experience, how I got here, what it’s been like, and…
- Abimelech, Abraham, Akedah, Be'er Sheva, Destruction, Genealogy, Hagar, Isaac, Ishmael, Laughter, Lot, Moab, Parsha, Prayer, Sarah, Sodom, Temple Mount, Vayera
The Bible is…Funny?!
This week’s parsha (Va-yera) starts with a story about laughter – well, after being preceded by three particularly mysterious characters. They are vexing in the lack of characterization, and so throughout the centuries…
- Abraham, Bruce Feiler, Covenant, Hagar, Interfaith, Ishmael, Journey, Jubilees, Land, Lekh Lekha, Lot, Matriarchs, Melchizedek, Mishnah, Parsha, Patriarchs, Politics, Sarah, Torah
The Greatest Journey?
In the canon of parshot, this week’s Lekh Lekha is pretty high on the most famous list. Mention this portion, and many people, regardless of practice, observance, synagogue attendance, or other faith marker…
- Bagels, Board of Governors, Cincinnati, Downtown, Exploration, Family, Genealogy, High Holidays, HUC, Neighborhoods, October, PhD, Shabbat, Synagogues, Textbooks, Travel, Visitors
The Turning of the Leaves of Time
Parsha is pleasant and perplexing, but it’s high time for an update about my program and Cincinnati life! October isn’t even halfway done yet, but holds much in store to perpetuate my excitement.…
- Altar, Ark, Curse, Descendants, Destruction, Flood, Generations, Haftorah, Lawlessness, Noach, Parsha, Rain, Righteous, Sages, Strange, Yiddish
The Rains Came Down and the Floods Came Up
Some stories are so familiar that we can recite them with our eyes closed. Last week (Bereshit) was like that. So is this week. And this trend will likely continue as we read…
- Annual Cycle, Bereshit, Dialogue, Haftorah, JTS, Parsha, Perception, Process, Questions, Relationship, Sages, Scripture, Thought, Torah
Process
This week was fun – we just finished a yearly process: reading the Torah all the way through! It seems only right, then, that the first Torah portion, Bereshit, tells us about G!d’s…
- Annual Cycle, Burial, Creativity, Death, Deuteronomy, End, Haftorah, Inheritance, Israelites, Journey, Land, Moses, Nebo, Parsha, Poem, Presence, Prophet, Simchat Torah, Tribe, Vzot haBrakhah
Time Presses On
The end of a year. The end of a cycle. Could it really have come upon us so quickly? Have we really finished reading the Torah again? For a moment a person might…
- Abraham Joshua Heschel, Death, Deuteronomy, Haazinu, Haftorah, Harvest, Hope, Journey, Land, Moses, Parsha, Poem, Praise, Prayer, Provision, Remember, Rock, Simchat Torah, Sukkot, Wilderness of Zin
Poems and Praise
It’s the middle of the week – and I want to talk about the parsha we’re still studying! Parashat Ha’azinu (Deuteronomy 32) is the next to last in the cycle – then comes…
- Abraham Joshua Heschel, Al Chet, Atonement, Cincinnati, Genealogy, High Holidays, Holiness, Jewish, Jonah, JTS, Liturgy, Love, Prayer, Presence, Reflection, Relationship, Repentance, Sovereignty, Synagogues, Yom Kippur
Close to Angels
This year was my first Yom Kippur spent in Cincinnati, and I davened at Adath Israel, a Conservative congregation where my ancestors attended when they lived in the area. It was a fantastic…
- Days of Awe, Deuteronomy, Haftorah, High Holidays, Israelites, Joshua, Journey, Land, Mercy, Moses, Parsha, Repentance, Rosh Hoshannah, Second Temple Period, Shabbat, Strength, Transgression, Vayelekh, Yom Kippur
Turning With Awe
This week is Shabbat Shuva – the Sabbath of Turning, or Repentance. It comes between the civil new year, Rosh Hoshannah, and the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. This is a special Shabbat…