50 days that can help so many
At Bet David, we have found an additional way to give meaning to the traditional way of counting of the Omer. When we count the omer, we give 50 days of hope. I believe that education is one of the…
Rabbi Adrian Michael Schell
Proudly Jewish - Proudly Progressive
Rabbi Adrian Michael Schell
Proudly Jewish - Proudly Progressive
Category Drasha
Let us not allow “collective forgetting”
One of the most haunting and alarming verses in the Torah comes at the beginning of this week’s portion of Sh’mot: “A new king arose in Egypt who did not know Joseph”(Ex 1:8). The Torah imagines that despite Joseph’s insight…
Parashat Devarim: And charge the people as follows
“Then the Eternal said to me: You have been skirting this hill country long enough; now turn north. And charge the people as follows: You will be passing through the territory of your kinsmen, the descendants of Esau, who live in Se-ir.…
My Chanicha Patrizia
Our Parashat Matot Masei, which brings the Children of Israel to the plains of Moab on the border of the Land of Israel, deals with the nexus between two of the founding stories of Judaism. The story of peoplehood frames…
Torah Sparks: Shabbat haChodesh—Time is relevant
The spiritual cycle of the Jewish year depends on an interaction among the flow of holidays, the marking of Rosh Chodesh (the new month) and the weekly Shabbat (Sabbath) observance. The holidays and fast days sometimes permeate the surrounding Shabbatot…
Parashat Naso: It’s not my fault!
by Monica Solomon Being in business these are words I hear almost daily. Certainly if they are not said, they are implied. It seems that it is really difficult for people to own up to their mistakes, and to take…
Parashat Pinchas: Leading to better communication and understanding
Parashat Balak (last week’s reading) has quite a disturbing end. The short chapter reads like a report that predicts the end of “Project Exodus”. The situation in the camp is chaotic, all boundaries are fallen and no one cares anymore…
Parashat Beshalach: do not pray – just act
Torah Sparks: Tu BiShvat – celebrating the birthday of all trees “Then the Eternal One said to Moses, ‘Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. And you lift up your rod and hold out…
Parashat Vaera: What in God’s Name is God’s Name?
This is one of the more profound theological questions. To be able to name something or someone is to have a specific relationship to it or them, even a form of control. One can call out not just “Hey, You!”…
Parashat Vayeshev : Was it God’s plan?
Ellen Frankel (Author of “The Five Books of Miriam”) askes the following, thought-provoking question: “Why doesn’t Joseph tell his dreams to the women of the family? Why does he tell his two dreams – of his brothers’ sheaves bowing down…