At the Martin Luther King Jr. Award Ceremony at City Hall last week, long time civil servant Otis T. Barker received one of the high honors. Surrounded by his three living children, he stood proudly in front of friends, family…
Torah Thoughts – Shemot – Exodus 1:1-6:1 – “The Power of Both a Good Memory and a Good Forgettery”
Rabbi Irwin Tanenbaum used to preach that while it is great to have a good memory, it is even better to have a good forgettery. Being able to shake off the pain and humiliations we encounter in everyday life is…
Torah Thoughts – Vayigash – Genesis.44.18-47.27 – “How we choose to define ourselves”
Before participating in NPR’s Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, the host Peter Sagal will ask contestants to tell a little about themselves. Most phone-in callers will offer a job title in response, to which Peter will offer a quip depending…
Torah Thought – Vayeshev – Genesis.37.1-40.23 – “The Blessing of a Shooting Star”
The first time I really experienced God. I mean really experienced God. I was at Camp Ramah in the Poconos in the summer of 1982. I was eight years old, just entering fourth grade. Our age-group was woken up by…
Torah Thoughts – Vayishlach – Genesis.32.4-36.43 – “More Information More Anxiety”
One of my fellow chaplaincy residents at Albert Einstein Medical Center in North Philadelphia, always used to quote Rabbi Edwin Friedman, the famous family therapist, as saying, “the more information you compile, the more anxiety you will have.” While I…
Torah Thoughts – Vayeitzei – Genesis.28.10-32.3 – “Why We Matter to One Another”
The first time I attended a Buffalo Bills game a decade ago, it was half empty. The mood in the stadium was apathetic, fans hardly paying attention to what was going on below on the field. After sixteen years of…
Torah Thoughts – Toldot – Genesis.25.19-28.9 – “Resetting Our Familial Tables”
The fight between biblical twins Jacob and Esau began in utero. They tussled inside Rebecca’s womb, exactly as they would throughout their lives. More than a difference of personality or any specific grievance, the relationship between the two siblings was…
Torah Thoughts – Chayei Sara – Genesis.23.1-25.18 – “Focus on Our Priorities”
There is a moment in the Abraham story where everything gets real. Not when God plucks him from obscurity and asks him to go to a faraway place in a faraway land. Not when he must beg for the citizens…
Torah Thoughts – Lech Lecha – Genesis.12.1-17.27 – “Becoming a Blessing”
Over four decades ago, Rabbi Daniel Kerman passed away suddenly. For many Temple Beth Am congregants, he was the only rabbi they had ever known. The community was devastated. He was only in his 50s. Our sanctuary is named for…
Torah Thoughts – Bereishit – Genesis.1.1-6.8 – “Our Fantastic Night Sky”
There is quite a lot of confusion as to how the Torah views the world before creation begins. “Tohu VaVohu” is how it is described, often translated as “unformed and void,” but the more literal meaning is that it was…