Talmud Yerushalmi, Kiddushin 4:12 :ר’ חזקיה רבי כהן בשם רב: אסור לדור בעיר שאין בה לא רופא, ולא מרחץ, ולא ב”ד מכין וחובשין. אמר ר’ יוסי בי ר’ בון אף אסור לדור בעיר שאין בה גינוניתא של ירק Rabbi Hezekiah and Rabbi Kohen in the name of Rav said: It is forbidden to live in a city … More »
We all want prayer, or any “spiritual experience,” to be transcendental, transformative, transformational and inspirational each time. It doesn’t work that way. It really does not matter which tradition, which religion, which philosophy, which anything, these types of experiences are few and far between. There’s a story I’ve heard, I don’t know if it’s true, … More »
In this month’s Sh’ma print publication, Nigel Savage of Hazon offers us an unfortunate and potentially deflating reality: we live in a broken world with seemingly unsolvable challenges. He closes his thought provoking piece by alluding to the Mishnah, “We will not resolve many of the greatest challenges of our time — but neither may we desist from … More »
There is a saying in the Hindu tradition - namaste - which I’m told poetically means “the light in me recognizes the light in you.” I am often asked whether there is a Hebrew equivalent, and to my knowledge there is not. This is a very interesting thing because inherent in this beautiful concept of … More »
Two memories stand out to me amongst all of my visits to the Kotel, of which there have been more than I can remember . At age 15 I was traveling through Israel with a Zionist youth group and as nearly every teenager visiting Israel, I was brought to the Kotel. I had been there … More »
A few years ago I heard a story from a rabbinic intern in LA that the not-so-young rabbi went into the full prostration during Aleinu, he paused there for what seemed to many as a long time. Many people present became concerned and someone came and checked on him and by doing so pulled him … More »
Recently, with a group of rabbis from across denominational lines, spanning various ages and geographic locations, all concurred: we are afraid to speak about Israel in public. We all had different reasons for our apprehension, but we all agreed that it’s not something we’re comfortable speaking about. I’m not even comfortable right now writing that … More »
It has always fascinated me that a people who make up but a mere .02% of the world have a litany of words to identify the other 99.8% of people. Over the generations, our language to describe “the other” has changed, varying in its degree of offensiveness to modern sensibilities. I know myself, and I … More »
American culture, from day one, has been based on fear of power and distaste of taxes - these attributes were very much the motivation of the revolution which shook off the British from the colonies, and over two hundred years later, these attributes encourage much of the debate and discord in our political dialogue. There … More »