Dissertation Diary
- 5781, Abraham, Akedah, Cliffhanger, Dissertation Diary, Doubt, Genesis, Hagar, Isaac, Ishmael, Mamre, Midrash, Parsha, Provision, Sacrifice, Sarah, Sodom, Trust, Vayera, Visitors
In With the New…Doesn’t Get Rid of the Old
The fourth parsha of our year is intense: beginning with a birth announcement and ending with a near-death experience. Well, technically, beginning with a newly-named Abraham sitting in his tent’s opening…waiting? hoping? wondering?…
- 5781, Abraham, Blessing, Covenant, Dissertation Diary, Faithfulness, Genesis, Hagar, Ishmael, Journey, Lekh Lekha, Lot, Names, Nation, Pandemic, Parsha, Promises, Sarah, Travel
Into the Unknown!
Seven months into a changed way of life during a pandemic, the unknown is old news. Rather than embarking as a result of our own volition, or even being asked to do so,…
- 5781, Ark, Bible, Canon, Climate Change, Climate Crisis, Creativity, Dissertation Diary, Genesis, Interpretation, Kabbalah, Midrash, Noach, Parsha, The Met, Yiddish
Drowning in Interpretation
We’re only on the second week of 5781’s Torah reading cycle, reading no more than six chapters a week. This is a reminder that the Bible, whatever form this takes for you (39…
- 5781, Bereshit, Creativity, Dissertation Diary, Genesis, Health, History, Human Experience, Pandemic, Parsha, Relationship, Repentance, Responsibility, Stewardship
What’s New?
Just like that, we’re back to the beginning – but this time, we’re in a jarringly different world. As in other crazy historical situations, rituals and traditions offer a framework and bring depth…
- 5781, Collaboration, Dissertation, Dissertation Diary, Elul, Faithfulness, Goals, Interfaith, New Year, Pandemic, Parsha, Ritual, Yiddish
Elul + Goalz
This year has been magnificent, stressful, eye-opening, life-changing, a whirlwind, a time for reflection, hopeful, frightening, confusing, illuminating, disappointing, and anything but normal. Although 5780’s not yet done, reflecting on the course…
- 5780, Abraham, Ancestors, Bereshit, Beshert, Chayyei Sarah, Death, Dissertation Diary, Genealogy, Generations, Genesis, Hebron, Isaac, Life, Marriage, Matriarchs, Parsha, Patriarchs, Rebekah, Sarah
Burials & Besherts
The last parsha was filled with Sarah’s life, and this one is, well…not. She dies almost immediately – the title, taken from the opening verse, instead offers a glance back. From here, Parashat…
- 5780, Abimelech, Abraham, Akedah, Bereshit, Dissertation Diary, Genesis, Hagar, Hospitality, Ishmael, Lot, Messiah, Midrash, Parsha, Philo, Sarah, Sister Wives, Sodom, Theophany, Vayera
Our Ancestral Drama: Comedy or Tragedy?
The laughing started last week, but argument, sin, confusion, and oppression are quick on the heels of such mirth. In a parsha that begins with guests, hospitality, and a theophany, the human condition…
- 5780, Abraham, Bereshit, Challah, Change, Dissertation Diary, Genesis, Intimacy, Isaac, Journey, Laughter, Lekh Lekha, New York, Parsha, Relationship, Sarah, Songs, Travel
Where are Jew Going?
Perhaps the alliteration of Lekh-Lekha brings about all the attention this parsha gets. From a challah-venture who borrows the name, to Debbie Friedman’s well-known song, this seems to be a favorite of parshiyot followers.…
- 5780, Ark, Babel, Bereshit, Confusion, Covenant, Destruction, Dissertation Diary, Flood, Genesis, Loss, Noach, Parsha, Promises, Rainbow, Rashi, Ruin, Sforno
Promises, Promises…
So the first “promise” of the Torah depends on the weather – really? In the realm of G!d’s power to respond to the world, rain was the retribution of choice. Without delving into…
- 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…