Our world is becoming an increasingly scary place.
We need to strengthen our resolve to seek tov, to seek goodness.
One way: seek peace by looking in each other's eyes.
Click here to listen to me preach about this man as I look into his eyes.
Picture this: In rabbinic times, after the destruction of the Temples, Jews lived throughout the Middle East and North Africa. In order to synchronize the calendars, long before Iphones or satellites, a rabbinic court in Jerusalem waited for two witnesses to come and testify that they had seen the New Moon crescent.
Upon hearing from each witness, the judges scrupulously compared their testimonies to make sure they were identical. Once the New Moon was confirmed, the news had to spread immediately to people living far and wide. How, you ask?
Bonfires. Want in? Click to learn more.
A quick shout out from my body to yours! Are you tired of sitting at your computer and thinking all day? Let’s shake it up and remember that we have legs, necks, bums and toes. The Hebrew word for body is goof. Even the word “goof” brings a smile. Click the video link above to hear more.
As I boarded the plane in Los Angeles to fly to Cape Town for the High Holy Days, I paused, touched the side of the open plane and said to myself, “b’yado afki ruchi,” in Your hand I place my spirit. This line from Adon Olam is my “all aboard” ritual and prayer.
A Rosh Hashana invites us to press reset. When the New Year begins its tempting to feel apathy upon arrival, disillusioned to begin again, fatigued by our futile resolutions made last year. That’s where community, ritual and a good kick in the tush can really count. Hope to hear from you! Where are you this year and where do you want to go?
Each day we light fires and put them out. We break things and build. We plant and harvest, tear and smooth. Six days a week we effort, tirelessly to create. In the year 200 C.E., the rabbis of the Mishna got radical. They took a list of 39 artisan techniques -- threshing, winnowing, sowing, skinning, weaving and tearing -- and transformed it from a checklist to create into an invitation to be created. Shabbat is one of these nights.
