In a society that values the rugged individual, the go-it-alone type, above all else, it is often hard to fathom the biblical-rabbinic commitment to the community and to the people as a whole. We moderns are so used to elevating our own concerns above that over the society, to pursuing our private happiness, even when at the expense of others and of our planet, that we look with horror on any assertions of the priority of the communal and the shared. Read more...

I'd like to begin with a story. A story of a man whom I must admit, I don't know personally, but whose story I heard from a colleague some years ago (and to whom I apologize for not remembering specifically who shared the story) and whose impact has been felt by so many. Read more...

Like so many others this week, I was riveted to the television, watching the unfolding drama as thirty-three Chilean miners were freed after being trapped almost one half mile underground for sixty-nine days. The moment the first miner, Florencio Avalos, emerged from the rescue capsule amid tears and hugs from family members and Chilean President Sebastian Pinera, I joined them in tears. For more than 20 hours afterwards, I watched as much as I could and read accounts as the others were freed, my eyes filling with tears with each one. Read more...

As a young child attending day camp at the local JCC, I had a counsellor who used to spend hours entertaining us with her ability to catch grasshoppers mid-jump. She would scoop them up by two of their legs and hold them up, showing off their stomachs. Hands quick enough to catch the hoppers were certainly noteworthy, but what fascinated me even more was the long springboard-like bounce of the jumping grasshoppers whose ability to keep jumping would certainly have surpassed the commercial energizer bunny. Read more...

"And all the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you." (Genesis 12:3) Read more...