Bringing you 5-ish minute (emphasis on the "ish") reflections on the weekly parsha (Torah portion). "There's nothing more rabbinic than an interrobang." - J. Harris
What is the miracle of the Passover story?
“I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity.” - Gilda Radner
Deriving meaning from even the most seemingly simple phrases of Torah
What does it mean to be a "Master of Dreams"?
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tree_of_life_bahir_Hebrew.svg
"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein
Sometimes, getting caught in the present is just as harmful as getting caught in the past.
How do we navigate the tension between security and freedom?
"Flood the path with light, run our eyes to where the skies are full of promise." - Augustine of Hippo
A look at the interconnectivity between beginnings, desires, and relationship
Have you ever had that moment when you lock eyes with someone, and the entire world melts away like melting wax?
Yom Kippur, Float Tanks, Joseph Campbell, Zohar, Jewish demonology, Pema Chodron, and the path towards healing.
“Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing. We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don't really get solved. They come together and fall apart again. It's just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.” – Pema Chodron
"On Rosh Hashanah the world is re-created, and so all of God's names are once again drawn into a single unity. On this Day of Judgement it is decided what name of God will descend on each individual that year. Listening to the sound of the shofar, we can discover which name will descend upon us." - R. Ze'ev Wolf of Zhitomir
What do Torah and Frank Herbert's Dune have in common?
The relationship between data and narrative; The multiplicity of truth
What do we do when we get a peek behind the curtain?
Rachmanas (compassion and empathy) as the core of society and Torah.
Death as The Great Adversary or Death as The Great Teacher?
Silence is a vital element of communication
What little rituals, little Torahs, do you have?
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-do-smells-trigger-memories1/
Here we talk about one of the hardest parts of teshuvah, what happens after you make teshuvah and theoretically things are resolved.
If you know, you know: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcjzHMhBtf0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezAJeaCySV4
"And the more that I give, the more I've got to give. It's the way that I live- it's what I'm living for!"
But I thought Moses was the only one who ever sees God?
What detergent did the Israelites use in the wilderness?
My sandal got stuck in the mud of the seafloor. We're gonna have to turn around.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgF_ycCmF18
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJuDD93JbOw
Do you ever have that moment when you know you need to stop talking, but you can't? Don't worry, God has those moments too.
Never underestimate the potential importance of a chance encounter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQd22F5onyM
If God is omnipresent, shouldn't I able to connect with the Holy One anywhere?
Love at first sight, on a camel.
What does it mean to be a descendant of Avram?
How do we give compassion and understanding to those who are hurting? How we find compassion when we ourselves are the ones hurting?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXlYt5JCrZw
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/optmod/holog.html
How are Sukkot, Passover, Yom Kippur, and Zen Buddhism connected?
Two rabbis and a philosopher of mind walk into a bar...
What do we do when we feel like we have more curses than blessings in our lives? (I'm looking at you, 2020.)
What do we do when our beliefs contradict out lived experience?
How can we read this week's parshah as a guide for leadership?
What is a blessing? What is a curse? Perhaps they're more closely connected than we think.
Dedicated to the memory of Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz.
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