Like Jacob, each of us wrestles, at different times in our life to find peace and wholeness, to live lives of integrity. We can all think of a moment when it seemed like we were doing everything right, succeeding in all the ways others expected us to — but…felt…like something was missing... Only after we put aside the expectations others had of us, could we hear the name given to us by God, our higher calling, our deeper purpose. Jacob’s was to become Israel, to move beyond his small sense of self to become the father a nation.
Read MoreAt the beginning of our Torah portion, the image we have of Abraham is a sad one: Having banished Hagar and Ishmael, he returns home without Isaac, only to receive the news that his wife Sarah has died. In a few pages, the tribal patriarch, the leader of his clan, loses all those closest and most dear to him. As he mourns everyone he has lost, we wonder, is it too late for Abraham? is this what he has to look forward to? A life of isolation, cut off from his own family and the promise of the future?
Read MoreAccording to Professor Deborah Lipstadt, recent author of Antisemitism: Here and Now, the way to fight antisemitism isn’t to focus on the threat — isn’t to hide in the face of danger — but instead to show the haters that we are Jews. It is incumbent on us to know who we are and to be proud of what we stand for: even if — especially because — it is different than what most people do; whether this means observing times of rest and special ways to eat, or fighting for the rights of the stranger, because we were strangers.
Read MoreOn Simchat Torah, we read the end and the beginning of the Torah in one breath, so to speak – as one unbroken story. This leads scholar and poet Esther Schor to argue that “the creation of the world is God’s shiva for Moses.” For seven days, God holds God’s breath – carries inside of Godself Moses’ life force, until finally God forms the first human from earth, blows into this its nostrils the breath of life God took from Moses: the last breath Moses breathes out thus becomes Adam’s first.
Read MoreYom Kippur is designed to deepen our capacity for self-reflection: some of us fast, abstain from physical relationships, or dress in white like a burial shroud. As we do, we rehearse the death of the old year, the old self. According to our tradition, in order to begin a new time, we need to release everything from the old time. If we want to enter a new chapter in our lives then we must first let go of what we have been, or thought we would be. Before we can return to God, we must first relinquish everything we have said (or been) and everything we expect to say (or be).
Read MoreI recently spoke with a friend of mine about our college days. I told him I e-mailed someone we were friendly with as undergraduates. I felt like I’d been a bad friend for not staying in touch, but chose to reach out anyway. Even after 15 years, our friend was delighted to hear from me, and told me to call her anytime. My friend Keith, now an Episcopal monk, said our relationship with old friends is like our relationship with God: many of us come to believe God doesn’t want to hear from us, that we’re, say, “bad Jews”. We often wait until we’re in a desperate situation to reach out. But the Psalmist counsels us: "Seek out the Source and you will find It / Call to the Divine Presence, and It will be close." When we decide to return, God, like an old friend, eagerly waits at the door to welcome us back home.
Read MoreIn Torah Study, we learned that the Sages link mitzvah, the word we usually translate as “commandment” with a similar sounding Aramaic word that means “to connect.” We discussed the many mitzvot designed to “connect” us with other people: comforting a mourner during shiva, welcoming newcomers, or visiting folks on the Skilled Nursing Floor; joining the morning minyan to support folks reciting Kaddish, coming to Torah study, or donating to the Scholarship Fund.
When we do these mitzvot, we connect – we reach beyond ourselves and become part of a “we”, a collective body of care and support.
Read MoreMin hameitzar karati Yah, anani b’merkhav Yah.
The very depth of brokenness can become a gateway to newfound wholeness. This line speaks of the resilience we access when we embrace life’s messiness. It suggests that, as we accept the “both and” nature of life, we gain a larger perspective. When we turn towards the challenging experiences we face, rather than try to avoid them, we may find that they open us up to something larger than ourselves.
Read MoreFavorite part of being Jewish and being a rabbi?
For me, it’s connecting with a really old way of inhabiting time. Judaism really grounds me in the seasons and the way time unfolds. I love becoming a Jewish spiritual and religious leader. Right now, I work with rabbinical students as part of a team of spiritual directors. I listen for the way that a secret emerges in people’s lives, the way God may be calling people to become what they’re becoming.
I help them hear themselves into life. I call it ‘therapy with God.’ Judaism has such wisdom about how to build community and bring people together, as well as how to witness and support each other as we evolve, grow and go through different stages in life.
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