I wish I could remember his name.
I definitely remember his face, and while I can’t say I’d recognize his long black coat or his black hat or the way he walks anywhere, I do recognize him here.
I know that’s him. Just over there shifting his bag to the other shoulder.
Read MoreFour Days of the Omer
Netzak of Chesed
Determination of Lovingkindness
Erev Shabbat/Shabbat
Evening of April 26 through April 27
I wonder if they still dream of water. After 40 days and 40 nights of rain, 150 days of flood before the water receded I think even all these years later I might still dream of water. Water as endless as this desert. On the other hand, walking through day 202, 150 days feels . . . different. Sighing heavily, I notice that Na’amah has linked her arm through Noah’s and she is regaling him with a story. With her free arm she gestures dramatically and when she pauses he chuckles. It’s a very Jewish chuckle and it carries over the din of people walking and chatting.
Read MoreTiferet of Chesed
An older woman has joined us. She has joined us only for this day; she is walking beside Sarah. The weight of their story seems to cling like pendants along their spines. There isn’t ease between them, they have history. They have bitterness and insult and jealousy and harshness and enslavement. Their gaits are a little stiff, but most of all not rushed as they walk together.
I wish I could hear what they are saying.
Read MoreDay Two of the Omer
Gevurah of Chesed
Boundaries/Discipline in Lovingkindness
I’m thinking about Yitro, Moses’s father-in-law and priest of Midian. I can see him there, just ahead of us. His eyes are sparkling as he walks with Caleb and Joshua. It’s hard to say what they might be talking about, but I think Joshua is . . . laughing? Yeah. He’s definitely laughing.
Read MoreYou are enough for this story . . . you are an omer.
And me, too.
And this day?
This day is an omer.
This day is enough.
This first day.
Day one.
Today is a dawn to dusk fast day.
Yeah. The day after Rosh HaShanah.
Today we remember Gedaliah, but who was he, anyway?
We are out here in the field.
This field that is here for us.
The Queen is here, too.
Chodesh tov. It's Rosh Chodesh Av, the new month of Av.
This morning I had the pleasure of leading Hallel for our IKAR morning minyan.
It's Av, a month that holds tragedy - Tisha B'Av. It's Av, a month that holds love and joy - Tu B'Av.
In honor of our minyan, and this month, I wrote a poem.
My 4th graders and I learned a lot about mitzvot this year.
We learned the most when we just did them.
One of my favorite things is talking Torah with my students.
Read MoreShe’ll do this hard thing, but she’ll do it her way, not Mordechai’s.
“Go, assemble all the Jews who live in Shushan, and fast on my behalf; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens will observe the same fast. Then I shall go to the king, though it is contrary to the law; and if I am to perish, I shall perish!” Esther 4:15
I am both obligated by tradition and personally dedicated to the work of justice; it is work without end. I remember that Shabbat is coming, and this day is an omer. It is enough – exactly enough – to accomplish the work that is my job to do in this one day. And then I bless. And then I count.
Read MoreLonely, sits the city once great with people. She that was great among nations has become a widow. The princess among states has fallen under their power. She weeps bitterly. Her friends offer no comfort. Her allies have betrayed her. Empty of festival pilgrims, her gates are deserted. My eyes flow with tears.
Every year we chant these words on Tisha B’Av and are reminded that lament deserves our time. Pain will not be forgotten, but can be held. There is no just future without having an honest reckoning with our past.
Read MoreThis reflection written for the University of Saint Thomas Campus Ministry Newsletter
Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, begins Monday April 20 and continues through sundown Tuesday April 21, 2020. At a time when traditionally we would come together as a community to honor our local survivors and remember those who perished, we will gather virtually to commemorate Yom HaShoah and mark the 75th anniversary of liberation and the end of the Holocaust.
Imagine! While Miguel and I shared this d’var Torah on the bima at Mount Zion Temple in Saint Paul, back in Honduras Sindy was delivering her baby - the little pumpkin in this picture. As soon as we’d finished speaking, Miguel rushed to the lobby where he got on the phone with Viktor who shouted with joy, “It’s done!” And mama and baby were both doing great. Welcome to the world, little one! When we learn his name in the days or weeks ahead (in Honduras, many people wait to name their babies to see if they will survive.) I’ll be sure to share it here.
Read MoreV’etchanan
Deuteronomy 3:23 - 7:11
When we form a covenantal relationship, some kind of mystery happens and even as we retain our own identities, we also form something new that only exists within that relationship. In that relationship, perhaps we reside in the leiv hashamayim– in the interior, the center, of the expanse. The heart of the heavens.
Saying, "It's Tisha B'Av" is a little like saying, "It's 9/11." Tisha = 9th. Av is the month we are in. It's a date. This date is the major day of communal mourning in the Jewish calendar. The. If you haven't heard of it, I get it, and it might be the biggest day you've never heard of.
Read MorePASSOVER
As we gather for our seders, we have an opportunity to bless our children - those born to us and taught by us. May we bless them for who they are, in all that they are. May we bless them in their infancy, their childhood, their adolescence, and their adulthood
PURIM
This year, informed by Nowruz and in observance of Purim, let’s think about how we might reach out diplomatically with the intention to increase love and friendship between ourselves and others.
