Articles in Yearly Cycle
Stop Dreaming
In the aftermath of the Bondi Attack, we might want to hide our Judaism and blend in. This essay cautions us against living a lie.
The Thrill of Intimacy
The radical transition from the Yom Kippur solemnity to the Simchat Torah revelry can be dizzying, but it makes sense. There is a method to the madness.
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The Hostages Are Coming Home
As I write this on Thursday morning, it appears that the hostage exchange will at least begin before Monday evening, the commencement of the Shemini Atzeret / Simchat Torah holiday. It is hoped that all the living hostages will have been returned by then in a single wave. The bodies …
Leave Your Resentments at The Door
When you think of the Sukkah, you think of walls and sechach—a foliage roof. Yet, the name Sukkah is all about the foliage roof, the sechach; that is why it is called Sukkah. Sukkah is a derivative of sechach. The foliage roof indeed makes the Sukkah; otherwise, it is just …
Extracting Sparks from Stones
G-d created the world through speech, and the words with which He created us are very much like flames. “Behold, my words are like flames” (Jeremiah 23:29). Flames don’t burn unless they have fuel to consume. The same is true of G-d’s words. “For G-d your G-d is a consuming …
Is Your Love for G-d Actionable?
Minutes of formal meetings always end with a list of actionable items. Committees love to talk and to hear themselves talk, but if the discussions don’t produce actionable items, they are not useful.
The same is true about love. Loving someone in theory or loving the idea of someone is not …
Tomorrow Is Too Late
A good friend recently lost his father. I meant to call him as soon as I heard, but he was sitting Shivah in Mexico. So, I told myself I would call him after Shivah. A week passed, and I was going to call him that day, but I developed a …
Improve Your Eye Sight
Every year, on the last Shabbat before Elul—the final month of the year, we read a Torah portion that begins with the word reeh—see. The passage reads, “See, I set before you a blessing and a curse. The blessing is that you fulfill the commandments of G-d your G-d that …
