Commentary - Blog
How to Write a D’var Torah (Speech) with Your Child
The D’var Torah is more than just a speech—it's a moment for your child to express their voice, reflect on sacred texts, and share a meaningful message with the community during their Bar or Bat Mitzvah. In this guide, we’ll show you how to support your child in crafting a D’var Torah that’s authentic, insightful,...
Read MoreTips for Learning Hebrew for a Bar/Bat Mitzvah
Tips for Learning Hebrew for a Bar/Bat Mitzvah Preparing for a Bar or Bat Mitzvah is a momentous time in a young person's life. One of the most important aspects of this spiritual journey is learning Hebrew, the sacred language of the Torah. Whether your child is fluent or just starting out, there are proven...
Read MoreHow to Support Your Child’s Torah Portion Study?
How to Support Your Child’s Torah Portion Study? At the heart of your child’s Bar/t Mitzvah journey is the Torah portion study—a sacred task that connects your child with generations of Jewish learning and tradition. As a parent or guardian, you play a vital role in supporting your child’s success and enjoyment throughout this process. ...
Read MoreThe Spiritual Imperative of a Fresh Start and Passover
Last month, we celebrated Purim, whose essence is encapsulated in the verse from the Book of Esther: "The enemies of the Jews had hoped to dominate them, but it all turned around, נהפוך הוא, and the Jews ended up dominating their enemies" (Esther 9:1). Indeed, Purim teaches us that things often turn out to be...
Read MorePsychedelics or Zohar?
Psychedelics have informed my spiritual journey way back when. In the 90s, way before my Rabbinic ordination, I had the unusual privilege of joining my Rabbi and spiritual teacher along with his colleague in smoking the ganja (weed) before a Kabalat Shabbat event. Undoubtedly, with the mind altering substance's help, this became a very meaningful...
Read MoreThe Shahid’s Sanctuary – a critique of Zoosman’s “The Cost of Revenge… Israel’s Response to Hamas”
Dear Cantor Zoosman. Thank you for writing the thoughtful and provocative piece “The Cost of Revenge, A Cantor’s Critique of Israel’s Response to Hamas”. I admire your activism toward the elimination of capital punishment. I have been following your Ohalah posts on the topic from afar. If I wasn’t already overextended I would be active...
Read MoreA Hawk, a Dove, and Hamas True Motivation
My friend and colleague, Rabbi Jan Salzman, said shortly after October 7th 2023 that there are both a Hawk and Dove residing within her head and heart in equal measure. I believe many of us can relate. We are living through a challenging time in which previously set assumptions about life in Israel and about...
Read MoreHandling Tragedy During the Month of Adar
In Tractate Ta’anit, it is stated: "Just as during the month of Av we decrease in joy, so too, during the month of Adar we increase in joy." Indeed, the sages instruct us to encourage and amplify joy not only on the days of Purim itself but throughout the entire month of Adar. Just recently,...
Read MoreKama Tov Sh’Baata Habayta Welcome Home
Shalom Hanoch sang in 1988 “Kama Tov Sh’Baata Habayta, Kama Tov Lir’ot Otkha Shuv… How good it is that you have come home, how good it is to see you again". In those innocent days of the 1980s, we have not yet truly known the meaning of national longing for hostages and the immense joy...
Read MoreUnity Above All, The Israeli Challenge
One of the greatest challenges in Israel these days, besides the grief for the many casualties, and the anguish over the fate of the hostages, is the fragility of our unity. This fragility began before October 7th, as we all remember.In Parashat Yitro, we read the words of Moses' father-in-law to Moses (Exodus 18:20-21):"And you...
Read MoreIsrael Palestine, The Elephant in The Room
Have you ever noticed that when we, Westerners, discuss the motivations behind the Israeli Palestinian conflict, there seems to be an “elephant in the room”, an awareness that hovers in the space but all pretend doesn’t exist? The elephant is the role that religious ideologies and religious sentiment play in perpetuating the conflict. The details...
Read MoreAncient Rabbi Ben Zakai and fasting on Yom Kippur
The Hebrews or Ivrim עברים discovered YHVH, the divine presence, while in the Desert. During their journeys they encountered the threshold between this world and the world of spirit. They recognized the limitations of the material world and the vastness of the spirit world. They named this spiritual threshold Adonai אדני, which derives from the...
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