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Freed, & Making People Freer
This summer, I visited the Booker T. Washington National Monument for the first time. Walking through the grounds of the plantation on which he and his family were enslaved, I imagined the everyday…
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A New (or Old) Society, but Always Broken
After the abolition of slavery in the United States, efforts to integrate communities, especially in states where slave-holding had been legal, began to spread. Civil rights were center stage for people trying to…
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Black History Month MMXXV: National Park Sites
As usual, I am excited to enter the best month of the year…February! From my childhood visiting U.S. National Park Service sties to my current obsession with filling up my National Parks Passport,…
- 5785, Abraham, Affliction, Conflict, Flood, Hagar, High Holidays, Ishmael, Israel, Matriarchs, Memory, Middle East, Mourning, Psalms, Sarah, Secondary Wives, War
Seeking to be Seen
I have never been happier to study the “secondary wives,” an often-forgotten group of people, and when remembered, almost always misunderstood. Who can be blamed – there is a dearth of information, missing…
- 5784, 5785, Challenge, Chevrutah, Days of Awe, Flood, Gratitude, High Holidays, Suffering, Talmud, Yamim Noraim
The World is Full of Awe
“Days of Awe” – Awe comes in many forms, many feelings. The name of the upcoming season brings a sense of wonder, a reminder of fragility, a hope for the seasons that may…
- 5784, 5785, Bilhah, Days of Awe, Dissertation, Hagar, High Holidays, Hope, Ishmael, Keturah, Music, Parsha, Psalms, Reflection, Secondary Wives, Shofar, Yamim Noraim, Zilpah
Changing, Changing, Changing…Before the New Year
Life has changed for me in noticeable and yet-to-be-named ways in 5784. As my disappearance from this blog may be proof, I went into several months of reading, research, and writing for my…
- 5784, Aaron, Altar of Incense, Anointing, Exodus, Ki Tisa, Menorah, Messiah, Moses, Offering, Oil, Parsha, Priests, Shemot, Spices, Tabernacle, Tent of Meeting, Worship, משיח, שמן
The Spices of משיח
The sensory event of the Tent of Meeting and service therein continues in this week’s parsha, Ki Tisa. From the fashion and ringing sounds of the priestly garments (as well as the fabric, metal,…
- 5784, Aaron, Archaeology, Bell, Birthday, Clothing, Colors, Exodus, Forty, Garments, Hezekiah's Tunnel, Israel, Jerusalem, Old City, Parsha, Pomegranates, Priests, Shemot, Tetzaveh
Ringing the Birthday Bells
Today, as I enter my fifth decade of life, the adorning details of the Tabernacle continue in Parashat Tetzaveh, now describing how those who serve in the Tabernacle are to dress. On my…
- 5784, Amidah, Ark of the Covenant, Commandments, Exodus, Holy of Holies, Midbar, Parsha, Shemot, Tabernacle, Terumah, Worship
Centering (Amidst) Change
Life is a state of constant change – even at the times when we suggest one generation, one time period, one setting, one situation somehow contains greater shifts than another. Amidst the constant…
- 5784, Aaron, Banquet, Elders, Exodus, Feet, Food and Drink, Isaiah, Leaders, Mishpatim, Mitzvah, Moses, Parsha, Physical Presence, Rules, Sapphire, Shemot, Sinai, Splendor, Torah
Approaching the Divine
Parashat Mishpatim is full of rules, including those that leave the Hebrew people with timeless principles as well as situational directions that seem specific to a certain lifestyle. Indeed, many of the injunctions which…
