For some of us, a dawning sense of adulthood came with our first awareness of death.  Perhaps it was the death of a pet, perhaps it was the passing of a grandparent, but the realization that life had an end, that we would not last forever, changed each one of us in an instant. Suddenly life was transformed from simple light and joy to a more complex and bittersweet mix.  The melody of life switched from the major to a minor key. Read more...

In one of its most sublime breaks with many other religious traditions, the Torah retains the record of God's insistence that the sacred writings of Israel belong to the entire people, not simply to one holy caste or exclusive one aristocracy.  The Torah of Israel belongs to all Israel.   Read more...

Some look to religion to transmit a sense of the majesty of the past. Traditions, because they come to us from a purer time, embody fragile vessels carrying remnants of a lost insight.   Such a view of Judaism correctly perceives the treasures of our ancestors' seeking and recording their relationship with God. But it errs in transforming the record of that search into a type of fossil, a brittle relic which can only be passed from hand to hand, without any direct contribution from the viewer.   Read more...

Some look to religion to transmit a sense of the majesty of the past. Traditions, because they come to us from a purer time, embody fragile vessels carrying remnants of a lost insight.   Such a view of Judaism correctly perceives the treasures of our ancestors' seeking and recording their relationship with God. But it errs in transforming the record of that search into a type of fossil, a brittle relic which can only be passed from hand to hand, without any direct contribution from the viewer.   Read more...