Articles in Yearly Cycle
Simchat Torah: No Break
On Simchat Torah we read the last passage of the Torah, but we don’t stop for even a moment when we finish reading the Torah. Instead, we turn around and start over immediately from the first verse. There are many celebrations on Simchat Torah, but they come before we read …
Sukkot: From the Fast to the Party
The party begins on Sukkot. The first ten days of the year are somber. Rosh Hashanah is the day of judgement, then next week are the days of repentance, and Yom Kippur is the fast. After the fast, our festivals take a radical turn and we move from the fast …
Shabbat Shuvah: The Uplifting Return
The uplifting return that marks the first ten days of the Hebrew calendar year is expressed in the name that tradition has assigned to this Shabbat: Shabbat Shuvah, the Shabbat of return. In English, when we speak of regret and of turning over a new leaf, we call it repentance. …
Rosh Hashanah: Without A Crutch
A crutch can help you get past a difficult hump, but a crutch can also be a trap. When the time comes to discard the crutch, the crutch becomes a trap if you lack the courage to go without it. Athletes famously hold on to crutches. Wade Boggs was a …
Shavuot: Ten Commandments of Parenting
The ten commandments of parenting is an appropriate topic to discuss in the days leading up to Shavuot, the day we received the Ten Commandments.
On several occasions the Torah casts us as G-d’s children and G-d as our parent. It therefore stands to reason that by studying the Ten Commandments, …
Emor: Making Space for G-d
Making space for G-d is the name of the game during the season of the Omer. There are forty-nine days between Passover and Shavuot, and we enjoy and savor them all. We count each day as if it were a precious jewel as we prepare for the festival of Shavuot. …
Yom Hazikaron: We Remember
Sweeping vista
Lifeless plane
Victory hollow
Heart of pain
Land mass strewn
friend and foe
Lie forever
Battle throe
Sand storm rising
Sinai beckons
A soul asunder
Wanders, reckons
Patience try
Today on high
Was it worth it
An anguished sigh
A rising wave
A tidal crest
We won the war
We lost our best
Victory sweet
A price so steep
Oh please dear G-d
My brother keep
Sinai captured
Fires cease
Dead, secure
A lasting peace
Will …
Acharei Mot: Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the Jewish calendar year. It is unusual to discuss Yom Kippur shortly after Passover, but it comes up this week because the Torah portion of the week describes the Yom Kippur service that was performed by the High Priest in the Holy of …
