Minutes before midnight Wednesday night, Israel marked a most mundane miracle. It was mundane for me because it was years in the making, because more has been happening on the ground than meets the usual eye, and because Israelis are good at holding multiple truths at the same time. The miracle was the formation of a coalition government made up of parties across the spectrum,…
“They made me do it.” Ah, the old refrain! Too often, we hear this phrase in the context of someone doing something wrong when they really did have a choice. To avoid accountability, we blame someone else; we claim coercion. What if, though, we claimed coercion in order to create future accountability? Before applying this idea to our contemporary lives, let me share a rather…
Psalm 23 is a beautiful piece of ancient Hebrew poetry that countless believers have sung and prayed for generations. Therefore, taking a verse a month, we are walking through this Psalm verse by verse. And today, we find ourselves in verse 5: “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.”(Psalms 23:5…
After the previous pandemic year, we cannot imagine a better way to kick off this spring than with a new start, and isn’t that what a vegetable garden is? The promise of new growth, hope, and something better. Well, we have committed to something better — our vision of a vegetable garden that can feed our brothers and sisters in need. We have drawn on…
To be counter-cultural one must be in conversation with the surrounding culture. Jewish wisdom has often walked a fine line between cultural engagement and rejection, the golden mean being dialogue. The contemporary Jewish holidays that occupy the days and weeks between Passover and Shavuot convey more of rebuttal than a dialogue. The wisdom they express is intentionally counter-cultural and yet in a way meant to…
Psalm 23 is a beautiful piece of ancient Hebrew poetry that countless believers have sung and prayed for generations. Therefore, taking a verse a month, we are walking through this Psalm verse by verse. And today, we find ourselves in verse 4: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy…
What does God think of us a year later? Setting aside discussions of God’s omniscience for the moment, I truly wonder what the divine perspective is on the experience of humanity this past year. A year ago yesterday, I announced that my school building would close indefinitely with learning pivoting to online. That makes today the start of a year at home, a year of…
Psalm 23 is a beautiful piece of ancient Hebrew poetry that countless believers have sung and prayed for generations. Therefore, taking a verse a month, we are walking through this psalm verse by verse. And today, we find ourselves in verse 3: "He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake (Psalms 23:3 KJV)." Now, you may not…
The Beatles got it right. Love is a crucial component of our ability to be in the world. “Nothing you can do, but you can learn how to be you in time — It’s easy.” When we are loved, we learn to be ourselves. Lately, though, it seems that we need more love than before to be able to get what we need to be…
Psalm 23 is a beautiful piece of ancient Hebrew poetry that countless believers have sung and prayed for generations. Therefore, taking a verse a month, we are walking through this Psalm verse by verse. And today, we find ourselves in verse 2: “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters” (Psalms 23:2 KJV). As you read this verse,…
Of all the stories Jews could tell about themselves, the Exodus from Egypt is the most central. Why not Creation? The Bible and the Gospel of John start there. Or monotheism? Abraham is pretty compelling a progenitor. Moses the lawgiver? He would be a great tragic hero. Or how about the national drama of King David and his dynasty? That kind of story is what…