Parashat Ha Shavua Commentaries

"Why does Abbah (Dad) want to listen to Israeli radio so much?" My eight year old son Jeremy asked me as I was tucking my five year old daughter Hannah into bed. Oh no, I thought. I had hoped to avoid this conversation. I had hoped to spare my children from worrying about our family in Israel and my daughter's best friend who is in Jerusalem for the semester. But the kids could tell something was up. "There are some problems in Israel now." I began gently. "What kind of problems?" Jeremy asked. Read more...

It began with the first two human beings born into this world -- the world's first brothers. In the course of time, Cain brought an offering to the LORD from the fruit of the soil; and Abel, for his part, brought the choicest of the firstlings of his flock. The LORD paid heed to Abel and his offering, but to Cain and his offering He paid no heed. Cain was much distressed and his face fell. (Genesis 4:3-5) Read more...

Last year I took a group of high school students to New Orleans to do relief work in the Lower Ninth Ward. After five days of hard work - painting and rebuilding homes devastated from Hurricane Katrina - we visited to the French Quarter. A funny thing kept happening to us as we wandered the narrow streets. We continually found money scattered on the sidewalk or sitting in dark stairwells. By the time the night was over, we had found nearly $140 in misplaced cash! Read more...

In a society that values the rugged individual, the go-it-alone type, above all else, it is often hard to fathom the biblical-rabbinic commitment to the community and to the people as a whole. We moderns are so used to elevating our own concerns above that over the society, to pursuing our private happiness, even when at the expense of others and of our planet, that we look with horror on any assertions of the priority of the communal and the shared. Read more...

I love LA after it rains. The water dries, and for at least a brief time, the showers clear the air and wipes away the smog that sits heavily around the city. In those moments, from atop the hills of Bel Air where American Jewish University is located, you can see clearly for miles - actually witnessing the beauty of the mountains, the valley, the clouds, and from one spot close to campus, even a sliver of the ocean shore. Read more...