Hi, I recently saw something I wanted to share. “When one door of happiness closes, another opens. But sometimes we look so long at the closed door? That we don’t see the one that has opened.” … I think it’s a great approach to life. And a very Jewish approach. But when someone says something […]

Hi, Hope you’re having a great day. It’s amazing how our perspective on things can change. My nephew Yehudah has a very long road ahead of him. Thank G-d, there have been some encouraging signs. Very small things.  But very important things. Like a little sensation where there was none before. But when it happens […]

Hi, Hope you’re having a great day. This is an incredibly emotional week in Israel. And it should be for us as well. Before celebrating Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israeli Independence Day? We remember the precious soldiers of the IDF who fell in battle. … You may recognize the name Professor Yisrael Aumann. He’s the Israeli Jew […]

Last Tuesday was Tisha B’av, the one day set aside in Jewish tradition for mourning. I led a service in which we tried to connect to the suffering of Jews throughout history. We tried to feel their pain as well as to be inspired by their strength. How despite what they went through, they held […]

Hi, Hope you’re having a great day. …Pharaoh has decreed that all newborn Jewish boys be thrown into the Nile River. Amram and Yocheved have a baby boy. Yocheved, his mother, hides him as long as possible. Finally she puts him in a box and places it on the banks of the Nile. And she […]

Hi, Hope you’re having a great day. The new Egyptian king sees the Jews as a threat and enslaves them. (Exodus, 1:8-2:10) He orders the Jewish midwives to kill every newborn Jewish boy. But the midwives “feared G-d” and defied the order.  They kept the boys alive. So Pharaoh issued a new decree.  To his […]

Hi, Jacob finally encounters his brother Esau.  (Genesis, 33) In Jewish tradition, Esau represents the power of the sword.  As opposed to the spiritual values of Jacob. In fact, Jacob had run away because Esau was planning on killing him. … What happens when they meet? “ He hugged Jacob… kissed him.  They wept”.  (33:4) […]