Shuvu: Self Reflection on the Holiday of the Birth of our Nation: Prompts for Conversation at the Pesach Seder One of the prompts I always give my students in our advisory sessions, is “concerned/not concerned.” We go around and gauge ourselves about the things that are both worrisome and things that are not. This year, as a Jew I am feeling blessed. I am not sure if anyone had told us that this Pesach that there would be no Gaza war and no hostages left in Gaza, we would have believed it. This is a true peleh and nes, a true wonder and miracle. It is something that when I pause to think about, I am almost in tears. And, at the same time, needless to say, there is much to be concerned about. Our brothers and sisters in Israel are under fire, our young people are on the front lines of the IDF fighting and anti semitism continues to rise. Here on the home front, political divisiveness, economic challenge and war cloud our every day. So, heading into Pesach this yea...
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Sacks 6/7:6 or 7 Insights by Rabbi Sacks in the Coming Parshiyot Yitro, Mishpatim, Terumah Every week or so, depending on the Parsha, I will share 6 or 7 insights from Rabbi Sacks that stuck out to me and will inspire us in the coming week or weeks. Wishing everyone meaningful and sweet Shabbatot–Shabbat Shalom! Insight #1 - יִתְרוֹ-The Original Barukh Hashem (Ex:18:10 p. 517) בָּרוּךְ יְ-ה Blessed be the LORD – The quintessential Jewish expression of thanks, gratitude, and acknowledgment is barukh Hashem, meaning “thank God” or “praise be to the LORD.” Ḥasidim say of the Baal Shem Tov that he would travel around the little towns and villages of Eastern Europe, asking Jews how they were. However poor or troubled they were, invariably they would reply, “Barukh Hashem.” It was an instinctive expression of faith, and every Jew knew it. They might have lacked the learning of the great talmudic scholar, or the wealth of the successful, but they believed they had much to thank God for,...
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Sacks 6/7:6 or 7 Insights by Rabbi Sacks in the Coming Parshiyot Vaera, Bo, Beshalach E very week or so, depending on the Parsha, I will share 6 or 7 insights from Rabbi Sacks that stuck out to me and will inspire us in the coming week or weeks. Insight #1 - וָאֵרָא-The purpose of Freedom-8:16 וְיַעַבְדֻנִי Send My people forth, so that they may serve Me – The Torah does not frame the move from slavery to freedom in terms of the ability to do what you like. Rather, it promotes the freedom to do what you ought. -p. 433 Insight #2-Intro to בֹּא-The Importance of Storytelling-The World tells stories to put people to sleep, I tell stories to wake people up" - R. Nachman of Breslov Parashat Bo introduces the institution of storytelling as a fundamental religious duty, recalling and re-enacting the events of the exodus every year, and in particular, making children central to the story. If we are the story we tell about ourselves, then as long as we never lose the story, we will neve...