Every year when we reach this week’s Torah portion, Ha’azinu, I use it as an opportunity to share a few poems.  Ha’azinu is one of the oldest Biblical poems, attributed to Moses, it is a summation of all the Israelites…

In just a few days we will gather for our High Holy Days.  Congregants from near and far will gather in our newly remodeled sanctuary to welcome the new Jewish Year.  The new blue chairs and carpets, large overhead window,…

There is a moment in this week’s Torah portion Ki Tavo that touched me to the core.  It comes in the second aliyah as we hear from an anonymous Israelite after they have completed their yearly offerings.  Standing in front…

It is impossible to read this week’s Torah portion, Ki Teitzei, without thinking about the hostages.  The portion is dedicated to societal rules for warfare, beginning with the case of a woman who is being held captive.  She must be…

As the identities of the six bodies discovered in Rafa this past weekend were revealed, the Jewish world shook with anger.  After nearly a year in captivity, what did Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Alex Lobanov, Carmel Gat, Almog…

In one of the stories included in the 1970s science fiction anthology “Wandering Stars”, creatures called Bulbas that look like, “brown pillows, all wrinkled and twisted, with some big gray spots on this side and on that side, and out of…

“Creating a World without Blemish” At the beginning of this week’s Torah portion, Chukat, we learn about a red heifer, that not only had to be completely red, but also without blemish, “she ein bah mum” (Numbers 19:2).  This was…