Rumors of My Retirement Are Greatly Exaggerated!
Dearest Friends of the Tucson Jewish community,
It seems to me that many of you have forgotten the training we all received when we were children. Remember the nurse at school who taught you two important rules: 1) Wash your hands, and 2) Don’t put something in your mouth if you don’t know where it came from! Let’s pay attention to Rule #2, shall we?
Drash on Parashat Lech L’cha
Lech l’cha literally means “Go for” or “to yourself” (perhaps, “within” yourself). As Rashi says, “Go for your own benefit, for your own good.” A spiritual quest is often one made alone, away from the comforts and influences found in one’s home. Avram begins a journey of religious awakening away from the possible objections of […]
Drash on Parashat Noach
Adam and Eve are cast out of tranquility. Civilization is set in motion. Very soon thereafter, things go awry. Humanity becomes corrupt and lawless. The Holy One decides to begin anew by wiping out life on earth with a great flood. Noah and his sons build an ark, and his wife, Na’amah, and her daughters-in-law […]
Drash on Parashat B’reishit
God creates the universe from nothingness over six days, concluding with the creation of Shabbat on the seventh day (yes, God works on Shabbat, but only for a millisecond). Day One: Light; Day Two: Separation of the waters above and below the earth; Day Three: Seas, Dry Land, Vegetation; Day Four: Sun, Moon, Stars; Day […]
Drash on Shabbat Sukkot Chol HaMoed
Rabbi Jonathan E. Blake’s commentary from the Reform Judaism website: In today’s reading, Sukkot is nothing more than Chag HaAsif, “the Feast of Ingathering,” one of three annual pilgrimage festivals (Pesach and Shavuot are the other two). There exist embellishments of the Sukkot observance over the course of the Torah. From these we can infer […]