Bereshit
- 5780, Annual Cycle, Bereshit, Creativity, Dancing, Deuteronomy, Devarim, Dissertation Diary, Farewell, Generations, Genesis, High Holidays, Liturgy, Moses, Parsha, Presence, Rashi, Simchat Torah, Sukkot, Torah
Dancing With Creation
Sukkos is the time of our joy, and Simchas Torah offers a highly tangible expression of our ecstatic expression. Whether momentary or mundane, each year we return in joy to the beginning of…
- Ancestors, Bereshit, Blessing, Brothers, Culture, Egypt, Genealogy, Generations, Israel, Jacob, Joseph, Komps Kaos, Oath, Parsha, Shemot, Text Study, Textual Criticism, Torah, Vayechi
The End of the Beginning
The end of Bereshit – an accomplishment that feels markedly set within each year of Torah engagement. We have traipsed through our creation stories, begun to wrestle with our relationship to G!d (and…
- Benjamin, Bereshit, Bible, Brothers, Chanukah, Connection, Human Experience, Jacob, Joseph, Komps Kaos, Midrash, Nation, Parsha, Torah, Vayigash
Coming Back to Family
I’m sad that Chanukah’s over, but really had a wonderful eight days of lights, friends, latkes, Torah, & apocrypha (haha!). This year is made a lot brighter by new friends, more synagogue involvement,…
- Bereshit, Brothers, Chanukah, Dreams, Egypt, Generations, Interpretation, Jacob, Jail, Joseph, Komps Kaos, Leaders, Light, Menorah, Parsha, Pharaoh, Potiphar, Slavery, Thanksgiving, Vayeishev
Stars in Your Eyes
Dreamers – Joseph seems to represent this wide-ranging group. Some dreamers are visionary – they provide us with new ideas and take us where we need to go. Joseph does this for Pharaoh…
- Abraham, Bereshit, Chayyei Sarah, Death, Descendants, Genealogy, Generations, Isaac, Kaddish, Life, Mourning, Parsha, Pittsburgh, Rebekah, Sarah, Synagogues
Lifecycle
Every year we talk about the irony of this week’s parsha: Chayei Sarah, or the life of Sarah. In reality, the only thing we are told about Sarah’s life is the number of…
- Abraham, Akedah, Angels, Argument, Be'er Sheva, Bereshit, Estrangement, Hagar, Ishmael, Komps Kaos, Lot, Parsha, Sacrifice, Sarah, Sodom, Strange, Strangers, Theophany, Vayera
Strange, Stranger, & Estranged
Our parsha this week begins with the story of three strangers – angels, perhaps a theophany, men, messengers – who are unknown to Abraham and Sarah. After laying out the spread for these…
- 5779, Abraham, Altar, Alter, Be'er Sheva, Bereshit, Horns, Komps Kaos, Lekh Lekha, Parsha, Refuge, Sacrifice, Torah
Altering Altars
Did you notice how many altars have already been built in the Torah? Bereshit: Abel & Cain offer first fruits and animals on the altar Noach: Noah builds an altar after the flood…
- 5779, Amoraim, Annual Cycle, Bereshit, Comprehensive Exams, Creativity, Galilee, Growth, HUC, Jerusalem, Komps Kaos, Parsha, Rabbis, Second Temple Period, Tannaim, Torah, Yavne
Restart
Bereshit…that’s how we know it’s time to restart the Torah cycle, to begin a renewed year of growth, learning, and creating. This year already, I feel like I’ve needed several of them! Last…
- Bereshit, Blessing, Burial, Death, Descendants, Egypt, Ephraim, Forgiveness, Goshen, Homeland, Israel, Jacob, Joseph, Journey, Life, Manasseh, Mourning, Parsha
Genesis – Out!
Once again, just like with the parsha beginning with the death of Sarah, the Hebrew terms for death and life are both at play in the parsha. Parashat Vayechi, “And he lived,” begins…
- Be'er Sheva, Benjamin, Bereshit, Descendants, Egypt, Goshen, HUC, Jacob, Joseph, Land, Parsha, Strangers, Temporary, Vayigash
Strangers in a Strange Land
With my winter break coming too swiftly to a close, I have returned to Cincinnati. For a few days, at least, I am still blissfully free to visit museums, hang out with my…