My wife, Heather, and I are the happy parents of a 16-month-old baby, Winnie. Each day, it seems that baby Winnie introduces a new insight to amaze us. From the big milestones, such as her first steps, to those little, sweet moments of hugs and cuddles, we feel consistently blessed by our child. Her shining personality continuously unfolds as it did just this past week when she uttered her first sentence. Winnie pointed to an object on the ground, looks up at Heather and me, and asked, “What is this?” Heather and I were floored. Read more...

A few days ago, we celebrated Simchat Torah, the festival of completing the annual reading of the Torah and the re-starting of a new cycle. Consequently, this week we no longer find ourselves wandering in the desert, but back once again at the beginning of it all. Read more...

"And there was evening, and there was morning, day one", day two, day three, day four, day five. Each day of creation, the Torah declares the ending of that day of creation, telling us first that God sees God’s acts of creation and declares them good, making way for the next day’s creative acts. Only on the sixth day, after creating human beings, is the wording different. Read more...

In the coming days, we read both the end and the beginning. On Simhat Torah (which is combined with Shmini Atzeret for those in Israel, where only one day of hag is celebrated), we hear the very end of the book of Deuteronomy, also known as Parashat V'zot haberacha, followed by Chapter 1 and the first 3 verses of Chapter 2 of Genesis. On the next day (at least here in the diaspora), the weekly parashah is Bereshit, as we begin once again the yearly cycle of Torah readings. Read more...

Reuben and his family lived a simple life. They had a small farm which supplied all their needs, and occasionally a little extra. There was always food on the table, clothes for Reuben, his wife and his three daughters to wear, and a roof over their heads. Reuben and his wife, Sarah, worked hard six days a week, and enjoyed the Sabbath, truth be told, more by resting than by praying. They dwelt in a small community of similarly situated families, and seemed to live an idyllic existence. Read more...