The title of this week’s Torah portion, Tazria, sounds a lot like one of my favorite Yiddish words: Tzuris (rhymes with chorus). This stand in for any pain, ache, or woe, a human being can experience is the best way…
Torah Thoughts – Shmini – Leviticus.9.1-11.47 – “The Last Goodbye”
This past week, I learned about the passing of the two oldest dogs on my block. One a spry golden retriever and the other a crotchety pug, that seemed on its leg from the time we moved in almost fourteen…
Torah Thoughts – Tzav – Leviticus.6.1-8.36 – “Judith’s Amazing First Step”
One hundred years this week, one of the most important innovations in Jewish history came into being: The First Bat Mitzvah. A rabbi, who just a month before had opened a synagogue on the Upper West Side of Manhattan called…
Torah Thoughts – Vayikra – Leviticus.1.1-5.26 – “Remembering to Forget”
It is hard enough to remember, but how do we remember to forget? This Shabbat, in addition to beginning the book of Leviticus, we also read a selection from the Deuteronomy that ends with the instruction to: “Blot out the…
Groundhog Day
2/2/22 “I wake up every day, right here, right in Punxsutawney, and it’s always February 2nd, and there’s nothing I can do about it.” —Bill Murray as Phil Connors in Groundhog Day Anyone else feel like they’re in Punxsutawney? Thanks,…