It seems that so many times in life the more important moments are actually the ones that happen between the staged events. It's the last few words at the door when parting from a friend; it's the chat in the corridor between the sanctuary and the kiddush on Shabbat morning; it's the exchange while standing together in the elevator. They seem to offer wisdom, insight, or even comfort, in an unchoreographed moment. This is also what makes eavesdropping such a tempting activity. Read more...

As we enter this week’s Torah reading, we encounter what scholars consider to be one of the oldest sections of the Bible and what is at the core of what it means to be Jewish – the holiness code.  Kedoshim tihyu – says the Torah: “You will be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy."  A remarkable invitation to the world of Jewish spirituality - one that captures the imagination of most rabbinic commentators – the Torah lists the many ways to fulfill this commandment that spans across a multitude of categories: ritual, warning against all types of theft, extortion, and business dece Read more...

There is an image of the modern Passover Seder that has always felt a bit peculiar to me. As each person at the table is about to drink from their first cup (out of four) of wine or grape juice, a mass leaning to the left takes place. If you were to look at the scene from above the image might be one of dominoes that began to fall, but were suspended between the horizontal and vertical. Read more...

With Parashat K’doshim, we begin what the rabbis of the Midrash recognized to be a distinct section of the Torah, "the section dealing with holiness".  In this estimation, they anticipated modern scholarship, which also recognizes a distinct "Holiness Code" within the various strands that comprise our Torah.  Characteristic of this portion of Scripture is the repeated injunction, "You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy. Read more...

With Parashat K’doshim, we begin what the rabbis of the Midrash recognized to be a distinct section of the Torah, "the section dealing with holiness".  In this estimation, they anticipated modern scholarship, which also recognizes a distinct "Holiness Code" within the various strands that comprise our Torah.  Characteristic of this portion of Scripture is the repeated injunction, "You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy. Read more...