1 Samuel Chapter 15 כג כִּי חַטַּ�ת-קֶסֶ� מֶרִי, וְ�ָוֶן וּתְרָפִי� הַפְצַר: יַעַן, מָ�ַסְתָּ �ֶת-דְּבַר יְהוָה, וַיִּמְ�ָסְךָ, מִמֶּלֶךְ. {ס} 23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubborn...

I was invited to Shabbat dinner at the home of friends. "What should I bring?" I asked. I got the answer: "Hmmm one of Levi’s classics." "I’ll bring Cocoa Krispies," I replied. I still have three bowls from LimmudLA 2008 when I was given packages of them to ...

This past Shabbat, the rabbi spoke about one of the most valuable pieces of wisdom she learned in rabbinical school. We think of theology as a fixed understanding, an aha! moment of awareness that arrives and stays, she said. But relationships between our fellow humans grow and evolve over time, tau...

I’ve always thought astrology a bunch of nonsense. I don’t deny its validity, I just don’t believe. It all seems very strange to me. Guru Singh was teaching a special Friday night class. I was of mixed mind. On the one hand, going to the class did not seem like the Jewish thing to ...

As I walk around on Shabbat, I make a point of greeting every male Jew. I’m too modest to talk to female strangers (unless they are young and hot and seemingly eager to talk to me). When certain people refuse to return my greeting Shabbat after Shabbat, I make a note of them in my mental enemi...

After having, this morning, re-read Rabbi Saul Berman’s classic article on the halakhic issue of playing sports on shabbas, I wanted to turn to some of his non-halakhic material in the piece (he did a great job with the halakhic material). He divides his article (and rightly so) into two separate ...

"Its ways are ways of pleasantness, and all its paths are peace." This shabbat as Israel expands the killing in Gaza we can only pray that her leaders remember this prayer we say every sat. as we put away our communities' most precious possession, the Torah. Israel is expanding its attacks and surel...

Until I was 20, I used to go to church almost every Sabbath. I never recall security guards. Yet I have almost never been to a shul on Shabbat that did not have a security guard. Here’s the email from YICC: Dear Members, In light of the situation in Israel, we will be extra cautious this Shabb...

I love writing titles. Almost more than I like writing the post. I wish there was a way to track how many people read the title and click through to the post. I dont really care who read the post, but I do think my titles are effective. Ah, we all have our vanities… Anyway. I hate end of the y...

By Like many of you, I thought this was a joke, unfortunately it is not. It seems that there is a whole economy based on the ridiculous modern day stringencies posed by Rabbinical authorities who in my view should be more worried about mikvah molestation scandals then whether or not someone wipes th...