- Blessing, Covenant, Curse, Days of Awe, Deuteronomy, Egypt, High Holidays, Instructions, Israelites, Land, Moses, Nitzavim, Parsha, Pesach, Promises, Purpose, Reflection, Remember, September 11, Yom Kippur
A Day to Remember * A Day to Reflect
“You stand this day, all of you, before the L!rd your G!d…” The first words of Parashat Nitzavim remind us of the imminent Days of Awe, pointing our minds and hearts toward reflection.…
- Academia, Change, Criticism, Exception, Humanities, Justice, Prejudice, Self-Conception, STEM, Stereotypes, Success
Forgetting Stereotypes
Academic prejudice can pose a problem for any student – but what is the root of it? Does it exist purely at the institutional level, or does the self-conception of some students deter…
- Altar, Aramean, Covenant, Days of Awe, Deuteronomy, Haftorah, High Holidays, Instructions, Israelites, Ki Tavo, Land, Light, Offering, Parsha, Pesach, Promises, Repentance, Rosh Hoshannah, Slichot, Torah
A Light in the Land
This week’s portion, Ki Tavo (Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8), continues to be about the goodness of a land the Israelites are about to enter as G!d promised. The haftorah, Isaiah 60, connects to the promises…
- Amalek, Deuteronomy, Honesty, Integrity, Ki Tetzei, Land, Leviticus, Maimonides, Mitzvah, Nachmanides, Parsha, Philo, Relationship, Sages, Tzitzit
All About the Mitzvot?
Parashat Ki Tetzei is infamous as the portion full of mitzvot (mirroring sections of Leviticus). But what do we learn from G!d’s statutes to his people about to enter the promised land? The…
- Cincinnati, Deuteronomy, Instructions, Israelites, Judges, Justice, Kings, Land, Moving, Parsha, PhD, Shoftim, Torah, Wandering
Wandering Through the Moves
I arrived in Cincinnati late Tuesday night and completed my Ph.D. orientation this week. Last week I missed commenting on Parashat Re’ei, and this week we’re on to Parashat Shoftim! It’s fitting that…
- Berakhot, Cincinnati, Deuteronomy, Eikev, Farewell, Israelites, Love, Mishnah, Moses, New York, Parsha, Pesach, PhD, Priests, Promises, Relationship, Shema, Talmud, Vahavta
Farewell Speeches
My first post on this blog comes not much more than a week before I move to Cincinnati to begin my Ph.D. It is an exciting time, certainly, yet as all fortuitous ventures…