Rabbi’s Torah Commentary

As I stood in the basement of the Hirshhorn Museum (modern art) in Washington DC, I found myself captivated by the décor. Walls floors and ceilings were covered in words and motivational phrases. One, in particular, caught my eye. “Belief + Doubt = Sanity.” I thought about it for a few moments. On the wall […]

Adonai! Adonai! God, Compassionate and Gracious, Slow to anger and Abundant in Kindness and Truth, Preserver of kindness for thousands of generations, Forgiver of iniquity, willful sin, and error, and Who facilitates cleansing.” Exodus 34:6-7. Moses came down the mountain and smashed the tablets with the first set of “10 Commandments.” He berated the people. […]

Prayer is a most important part of my existence. My tradition has a fairly set liturgy for morning, afternoon, and evening prayer services. Growing up in a fairly “conservadox” community, I never quite understood how people could sing-song their way through what seemed to be a 40-page service in 15 minutes or less. As I […]

It is hard to have a relationship with someone long distance. I know that the number of love stories that have ended up in tearful breakups could fill every library in the country. I know I had my own. With the best of intentions, we tell our beloveds that even while we have to be […]

Two plus two equals four, except when it doesn’t. This pithy thought is my universal corollary to the age-old adage; men are from Mars and women are from Venus. People will see the same event and walk away with radically differing perspectives on what just happened. Of course, in my tradition, this is part of […]

Believe part of what you see and less of what you hear. We know the age-old adage that admonishes folks to investigate matters for themselves. The adage is as true today as it ever was – perhaps even more so today because of the abuse of social media. When I first got to Temple Adath […]

Lori and I are “hooked” on a series we watch on Netflix. “Designated Survivor” depicts the rise of an American President who ascended to office solely because he did not die when the entire Capitol Building blew up at the hands of terrorists. Its episodic themes present (intentionally or unintentionally) an incredibly “both-sided” (and sometimes […]

“God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.” This statement troubles people. It has troubled people of faith for thousands of years. What kind of benevolent and loving God would harden Pharaoh’s heart and then condemn him for having a hardened heart? Early on, our sages determined that the problem we face happens because we divorce our sense of […]

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet.” As Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet struggle over the war between their families; one that forces them to keep their love secret, they espouse a truth of Messianic proportion. As we throw labels onto people, traditions, things — […]

I once dated someone in school. A friend of mine took me aside one day. He told me that dating this woman was like playing with fire. At first, I was alarmed at his thought. I asked him to explain. “She is really strong willed! You won’t win.” I looked back and nodded, but thought […]