Mifrasim מפרשים : Navigating our Lives as Role Models, Educators, Parents and Jews

Rage, Despair, Confusion, and Compassion: Bob Dylan and Two Pesach Messianic Visions Last week, the Ramaz Class of 2025 put on a production of Annie which was done in a 24-hour span. It was an incredible experience of teamwork and bonding for our seniors. Of the many incredible feelings I had as I watched our amazing teenagers on stage, was the realization that maybe the song that we all need right now is tomorrow. This is  because thinking about tomorrow can “clear away the cobwebs and the sorrow.”  Yes, Pesach is a story of the past and an obligation to remember. It is a moment to put ourselves in the shoes of our ancestors. But, right now, to be honest, as we are living in a continually depressing and confusing world, it is natural to be thinking mostly about tomorrow – hoping for a brighter future.  The Haggadah echoes this hope. After the meal, the focus in Haggadah is not on the past, but on the future. We read the Hallel HaGadol, sing l’Shana HaBa BeYerushalayim, p...

To Live, to Think, and to Aspire Broadly Over the past few weeks, as we have all watched hostages emerge from the confining hell of the Gazan tunnels, I have constantly been thinking about one phrase from Tehilim 118.   מִן-הַמֵּצַר, קָרָאתִי יָּ-הּ;  From the narrows I call to you,  עָנָנִי בַמֶּרְחָב יָ-הּ answer me with your breadth. (118:5) This pasuk, which we recite famously in Hallel, reflects on the moving from narrowness to breadth and has hit my heart in so many ways these days, as a Jew, as an American, and as a global citizen in these challenging times.  For these hostages who have survived the narrow, the meitzar , we have been watching a crippling, jarring shock, and, at the same time, a redeeming opportunity to re-engage. They are emerging from unimaginably confining surroundings, to a wide world of the embrace of family and the possibilities that the world can offer. The narrowness of this crisis finds some comfort not only in the breath of life,...

Yosef the Closer, the Continuer and the Need to Internalize Impermanence Just when you think that the story is over, there always seems to be more. As we read the epic tale of Joseph, Yosef HaTzadik, each chapter in his life seems that it could be the end of the story, but it is not.  He is put in a pit, left to die–not the end.  He is sold as a slave-not the end. He rises to the top level in his job-not the end. He is sent to jail to languish-not the end. He has a ruptured relationship with his brothers-not the end.  Yosef is the paradigm of resilience in the book of Breishit and in looking more at this fascinating character, his life reflects the dual nature of his name.  In Vayetze, we are told that Rachel is finally given the gift of children and she gives her child the name Yosef.  The first allusion to his name is the hope for an end. Yosef contains the root of the word for the end, the sof, as it is the end of this terrible chapter of childlessness for Ra...

Attention as an Essential Ingredient to Gratitude Each year, in late summer, we are told by the Rambam that the Shofar is there to wake us up. It is as if the Shofar tells us: Sleepers arise from your slumber, and those who are dozing, awake from your lethargy.  And this year, in this late fall, this Thanksgiving, after reading an essay on gratitude by David Whyte, I realize that this call to wake up and to pay attention requires a constant reminder.  David Whyte, in his masterpiece book, Consolations, writes: “Gratitude is not a passive response to something we have been given, gratitude arises from paying attention…Gratitude is not necessarily something that is shown after the event, is the deep, a priori state of attention that shows we understand and are equal to the gifted nature of life. (Consolations, p.89) We live in a world that is constantly trying to grab our attention. And it is the area of attention where we need to focus on most this Thanksgiving.  As Jews, ...

As soon as the shofar is blown after Neilah, there’s one thing I’m typically thinking about (in addition to my break-fast meal): Sukkot. After an intense month of selichot, teshuva, and literally praying for our lives, I look forward to the lighter holiday of Sukkot and Simchat Torah, which symbolize fall, family, feasting, and fun. But this year, like countless other people, I’m conflicted. How do we celebrate Sukkot — zman simchateinu — the holiday that is synonymous with unadulterated joy, when it is now connected to perhaps the darkest day in Israel’s history? It can be no coincidence that we find some guidance in the very megillah we read on Shabbat Chol Hamoed Sukkot, Kohelet, attributed to Shlomo HaMelech. Chapter 3 famously opens with:  לַכֹּ֖ל זְמָ֑ן וְעֵ֥ת לְכׇל־חֵ֖פֶץ תַּ֥חַת הַשָּׁמָֽיִם  עֵ֤ת לִבְכּוֹת֙ וְעֵ֣ת לִשְׂח֔וֹק עֵ֥ת סְפ֖וֹד וְעֵ֥ת רְקֽוֹד׃  עֵ֤ת לֶֽאֱהֹב֙ וְעֵ֣ת לִשְׂנֹ֔א עֵ֥ת מִלְחָמָ֖ה וְעֵ֥ת שָׁלֽוֹם׃    There is a time and a season for...

Disorienting Tears: A Biblical Trio and the Shofar in 5784 (2024) For months, I have been dreading Rosh Chodesh Elul. Up until now, each year, I eagerly awaited this day. As crisp fall air would gradually make its presence felt in the early mornings, Elul would be a time to cue up my special Playlist on Spotify, take out my Yamim Noraim sefarim and await the first sounds of the Shofar. Yet, this year, the thought of those first sounds fills me with angst. While the shofar’s first blasts have always brought me to tears, the tears of this Elul, Elul 5784, will be painfully and dramatically different. These will be tears of loss, of heaviness and of a world that seems stuck in sadness. . I was not sure I could be ready for this shofar moment until I thought of the lives of three Biblical figures, Noach, Daniel and Iyyov, and realized that if they could face catastrophe, so must we. The Torah mentions Noach three times in one pasuk (Bereshit 6:9) נח ו, ט: אֵ֚לֶּה תּֽוֹלְדֹ֣ת נֹ...