Master of Prayer: Tisha b’Av 2013
During the three weeks our obligation is to decrease simcha. We focus on what is missing, bewail those lacks, and downgrade our devekut. That is what it means to mourn.
Tsafun—Afikoman
Pesach 5773 / 2013 The 12th step in our seder, Tsafun, marks the time for “dessert” which, at the seder, means our last portion of matzah, called the Afikoman.
A Tribute to Wine for Tu B’Shvat 2013 / 5773
The path that grapes traverse in their odyssey of becoming wine parallels our cosmic journey of expanding consciousness.
Hillel says to move toward many; Shammai says to move toward one
Hillel says to start with one candle and add another each day until there’s eight; Shammai says to start with eight and remove one each day until we’re left with one.
I-Centers: A Circle of Ways to See the World
TISHA B’AV 5772 / 2012 By searching out the sliver of truth in contrary perspectives we acquire daat (the joiner of polarities) and build the Temple in our day.
Shavuot (Inspired by Meor v’Shemesh)
Jacob’s ladder reaches up through the worlds to the inwardness of G-d called the Infinite Light.
Lavan the Aramean
Lavan becomes the prototype of the irrational component of anti-semitism, the Jew-hatred that pops up for no good reason.
Esther, the Mistress of Prayer
Not all supplications are the same. Some are mighty and pierce to the core, while others reach only the lower heavens and get processed there.
Tu B’Shvat, 5772 / 2012 by Sarah Yehudit Schneider
At a Tu b’Shvat seder How do you decide which fruit to make the focus of your brocha, for only one out of all gets the privilege?
On Chanukka Everyone’s a High Priest
When the High Priest lit the menorah his intention was actually a prayer, that the lights now kindled should impart to the people an even deeper understanding of what it means that G-d is one.
The Inner Search for Pure Oil
Our world view, our sense of truth, our vision of perfection, our vision of what’s possible… all this is tainted by our long years of exile and association with foreign cultures.
Three Levels of Prayer: Rosh HaShana
Eliyahu Dessler teaches that there are three levels of prayer, which can be reformulated as three ways to approach Rosh Hashanna.
Tisha B’Av 5771 / 2011
How do we hope for mashiach with certain faith that he REALLY could materialize at any moment and yet also find a way to embrace our present moment with unconditional acceptance.
Shavuot 2011 / 5771
Every person and creature is hooked up to one or another of these 600,000 spiritual dynasties who received the Torah at Sinai.
Tikkun of Speech: Pesach 2011
On Pesach, our bodies were released from slavery and we literally exited the country, but a more fundamental deliverance unfolded beneath the surface.
Amalek is a Branch of Our Family Tree
A synchronicity of courage, grace and circumstance converge to produce a hero who turns his or her soul-wound into a mission of helping others and changing the world for good.
Tu B’Shvat 5771 / 2011
The Tree of Life has as many fruits as there are creatures (and moments) in the world. The Shekhina is its gardener and she daily plucks its ripened yield.
Cheshvan 2010: Turning Stumbling into Dancing
Slowly, day by day, as we move through life, we become more whole, for we are constantly absorbing new lights that were really just estranged pieces of ourselves all along.
What Exactly IS This “Book of Life”
The primary striving of the New Year’s prayers is to be inscribed in the Book of Life. While most interpret this as a plea for health and longevity, this is probably not the Talmud’s prime intent.
Managing Dispute: Tisha B’Av 2010
If it is true that causeless hatred prompted the Temple’s demise and only its opposite can save us…then we have got to find another way to disagree among ourselves.
Shavuot, 5770 (2010) Based on Sod Yesharim (Radziner Rebbe)
Every Jewish soul carries a memory trace of that Sinaic encounter. Somewhere, deep down, our soul remembers that earth-shaking event and the obligations it undertook at the mountain’s base.
Inviting Our Inner Stranger
Pesach Teaching 2010 / 5770. This is the bread of affliction that our fathers ate in the land of Egypt. All who are hungry, let them come and eat.
The Obligation (on Purim) of Inebriation
PurimBurst 2010 / 5770.
One is obligated to drink on Purim until you don’t know the difference between cursing Haman and blessing Mordekhai.
Tu B’Shvat: The New Year for Fruit Trees
Tu B’Shvat is the New Year’s day for fruit trees but it is important to note that this is not their day of judgment—that occurs months later on the holiday of Shavuot.
The 17th of Cheshvan: When the Great Flood Began
HaShem was hoping to bring down the Torah in Noach’s generation. All the pieces were there, including the soul of Moshe Rabbenu.