If there is a night that is rich with peek moments, traditions and memories it is seder night! Imagine leading a communal seder of three hundred people in Dharamsala, India, where throughout the evening people trickle over to you whispering/yelling, "but you didn’t use the tune that we sing at home!" and all I can think then and there is: "But you made a choice to be thousands of miles from your home, living in a shack on the top of a mountain for a reason, didn’t you??? Surely it wasn’t to sing the melodies that you sang at home..." Smiling, I would keep that thought to myself... Read more...

All three sources of our readings this Shabbat speak of rebirth. First, the Torah reading: You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread - eating unleavened bread for seven days, as I have commanded you - at the set time of the month of spring (Aviv), for in the month of spring (Aviv) you went forth from Egypt. Every first issue of the womb is Mine...(Exodus 34:18-19) Then consider the Haftarah reading: Read more...

Going to the market today a perilous adventure? While I once trusted a standby shopping list, including apples, bananas, milk, pasta, veggies, etc., now, every trip to the market results in distraction and in total sensory overload - head spinning, knees giving way, colors subtly blending together, sounds vibrating in your head. Too many choices! Read more...

We are, I believe, by nature, curious people. The desire to learn more is a powerful impetus propelling us to discover new worlds, to fly through the orbits of space, and dive into the depths of oceans. No one is more curious, however, than the young toddler who begins asking questions almost as soon as they can talk. "Why do I have to go to school? Why is that lady here? Why are we Jewish - why? Why? Why?" Read more...

As we approach this time of liberation, the Festival of Pesah, I want us to reflect on the mysteries of numbers. Countless sages and rabbis have weighed in on their thoughts of how many Israelites were liberated from Egypt — was it 600,000 total, or 2 million, or a mythic embellishment wrapped around a history that remains shrouded from accurate counting, or an archetypical tale that stands on it’s own? Read more...