Rabbi’s Recent Letter to Our Am HaYam Family Dear Am HaYam Family, On a recent Shabbat, we read in the Torah, Parashat Va-Et-chanan, the following: וָאֶתְחַנַּ֖ן אֶל־יְהֹוָ֑ה בָּעֵ֥ת הַהִ֖וא לֵאמֹֽר׃ I [Moses] sought out myself to G!d at that time. Rabbi Israel Salanter, the great 19th-century figure, posed the question,...
No, Too, Is an Answer A man slipped on the escalator and started sliding to the bottom. Halfway down he collided with a woman, knocking her over. Together the two continued to the bottom. When they reached the main floor, the woman, still rather dazed, continued to sit on the...
Jewish Simplicity A lion can actually capture, kill, and eat a field mouse. However, it turns out that the energy to do that is greater than the caloric content of the mouse. So, if a lion spent the whole day hunting and eating field mice… it would slowly starve itself...
How to Experience G!d It is important to realize that G!d is to be experienced. It is equally important to understand that G!d cannot be captured in any one thing, nor reduced to a single moment or phenomenon. We sometimes think we can contain G!d in a thing, and thereby...
The Chutzpah of the Book of Ruth (A Shavuot Teaching led by Rabbi Sacks on May 26, 2023) Consider: What do you think is the theme of the Book of Ruth? Ideas: chesed (lovingkindness), conversion to or reaffirmation of Judaism, loyalty. What we don’t point out is...
As we approach Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day, this year May 18 [sundown]-May 19), recalling the time when we regained access to the Old City of Jerusalem, during the Six-Day War. We’ll be celebrating with a special Jerusalem Shabbat on May 21-22, with a special liturgy for the occasion on Friday...
As the saying goes, spring has sprung. And, for many folks, with spring comes spring cleaning. Of course, with spring also comes Pesach (Passover). To me, that’s no coincidence. There is nothing quite like having to clean the house for Passover. The process of kashering the home for the holiday...
by Maayan Lev As a child, Sukkot was a very big holiday in my family. In fact, it may have been the biggest holiday of the year for us. This is because we had dinner in the sukkah together every night, usually inviting a different family to join us each...
What Am I Afraid Of?–Psalm 27 and the Use of the Month of Elul One of the ways that our tradition invites us to prepare for the High Holy Days is to recite and reflect upon Psalm 27 twice a day for the High Holy Day season, which leads into...
From the Rabbi’s Study Tishah B’Av to Rosh HaShanah: What Money Cannot Buy Business people once met for dinner some years ago and began to discuss money. One successful and aggressive business mogul made the statement that money can buy everything. In fact, he wrote out a check for...
