Shavuot and the Embracing of the Dark My favorite ride every year takes place in the dark. Usually on a fall Sunday following the chagim, my bike riding buddies and I (known as the Papa Wheelies) head down to the city, way before the sun rises, to participate in the ride for MS research. And as we exit Grand Central Station and make our way to the pier, we have the whole city to ourselves. Streets that later will be gridlocked are barren and quiet reigns on our usually hectic, noisy Big Apple. As a morning person, I can identify with the famous song from Guys and Dolls which says, “My time of day is the dark time.” Because it’s not only on that riding day where I like the dark time, it’s any day that I can take time in the dark before dawn to have a moment to ground myself before the world comes to life, that I cherish. One of the beauties of the Tikkun Leyl Shavuot, in which thousands of Jews this week will participate, is the embracing of learning Torah during ...
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Our Precious Holiday of (Limited) Freedom: חג החירות המוגבל Over the past few months, three thinkers have helped me to understand a more layered approach to the concept of freedom, one that I will bring to the Seder and Pesach this year. Oliver Burkeman, Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals In this amazingly thoughtful book, Burkeman says that while we often think and frame ourselves as free, our “freedom” is actually very limited. Our capacities, our abilities and our time, are undeniably finite. And, ironically, that limit can sometimes be freeing. He writes, “it’s not that you’ve been cheated out of an unlimited supply of time; ..it’s almost incomprehensibly miraculous to have been granted any time at all……There is a very down-to-earth kind of liberation in grasping that there are certain truths about being a limited human from which you’ll never be liberated. You don’t get to dictate the course...
Mishloach Manot: The Mitzvah We May Need Most Over the years, as technology has taken over our lives, it is good to know that how we observe so many mitzvot hasn’t really changed. Each year we hear the pure natural sound of the shofar, we shake the lulav and we dance with the Torah. The pure act of so many of our mitzvot gives us comfort, warmth and connection. But some mitzvot have dramatically changed. For so many, including myself, mishloach manot looks radically different than what it once was. I used to bake and assemble and spend Purim in the car and knocking on doors. Yet, over the years, I have admittedly become more tired, more lazy and more reliant on my computer to share the Purim cheer with friends and family through one-click shul, school and community fundraisers. And I think, in the process, we’ve lost our way with what this mitzvah is supposed to do. Because at its core, the mitzvah of mishloach manot is for us to share our joy with the peop...
Joy and Pruning: Two “Thinking Jew” Conversation Starters for Tu B’Shvat One of the many goals of our Kinneret 8th Grade is to become what we call a “thinking Jew.” Thinking Jews explore new ideas in Judaism and new trends in the culture of our people both here in the US and in Israel and they integrate that information into their identity.. Thinking Jews also look at the Chagim with more mature understandings, aiming to acquire meaningful lessons they can take with them as emerging adults. With this in mind, we asked the following questions in our class with respect to Tu B’Shvat. They helped all of us to become better “thinking Jews” and they helped us explore personal meaning in the chag. 1- Simcha: Rabbi Rabbi Dovid Hofstedter in his book the Doresh David points out that as Tu B’Shvat is the Rosh HaShanah for trees (Mishnah Rosh Hashana 1:1), and we act with joy toward this day. We omit supplicatory prayers like tachanun and we greet each with the chag...
Not Spreading the Light, but Striking It: Chanukkah and the Holiday of the Heart “Spread the light,” “light up the darkness,” are the messages we hear so much this time of year when it comes to Chanukkah. From commercials to synagogue programs, sharing the light is the common theme. And understandably so, the primary concept of Chanukkah is the miracle– the miracle of the war and the miracle of the oil. The central mitzvah of this holiday is pirsumei nisa, to share and publicize the miracle. We fulfill this precept by placing our menorah by our windows and showing the world our pride. We are told in the Talmud that we must keep the menorah lit for at least 30 minutes until all of the foot traffic leaves our neighborhoods making sure that every passerby takes in the power of the lights. But there is another halacha that seems to go against this principle. We are told in the Talmud that if, after lighting our candles, the light mistakenly burns out or blows out, we don’t have...
Chaye Sarah: Virtues, Vision and a Mentor with a Tweed Coat --A Tribute to Paul Bolenbaugh This week’s parsha recalls the death of Sarah, but is strangely called Chaye Sarah, literally translated as “The Life of Sarah.” While it certainly discusses her death and burial, it is Rashi, among others, who tell us that the unusual choice of titles for this parsha is purposeful, as death helps us understand life. Sarah, our matriarch, lived a life of energy, vigor and moral character. David Brooks, author and columnist, echoes this age-old concept. He writes, “..there were two sets of virtues, the résumé virtues and the eulogy virtues…The résumé virtues are the skills you bring to the marketplace. The eulogy virtues are the ones that are talked about at your funeral — whether you were kind, brave, honest or faithful. Were you capable of deep love.” While I do not know of Sarah’s resume virtues, the choice of title of the parsha, Chaye Sarah, reminds us of her eu...
Increasing the Spiritual Thirst of Our Students Thank you to the staff at The Jewish Education Experience Podcast for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts and philosophy on education and Jewish relevance. Click here for Apple platform, here for Google and here for Spotify. Wishing everyone a Shabbat Shalom and Chag sameach.