The Foundation Stone

The primary quality of anyone judging another is that the judge first know how to judge himself. If he cannot honestly examine his own behavior, how can he possibly judge someone else's?

Miriam and the women who followed her recognized that Israel would be unable to move forward until they forgave God for their suffering and their fear. So they sang of God desiring to share His power with them so that they too would be able to "hurl horse with rider into the sea," as Israel does to Amalek in the closing scene of the portion.

We stand in the final moments of 5777, prepared to transition to 5778, perfect moments to offer our gift to God, honoring all we have gained over the past year, and how we intend to apply that growth in the future, using the coming year to grow in ways yet unimaginable to us.

Who are these beings? Why do they play such important roles in the stories of Genesis? Why are the stories of the beginnings of humanity so rich with characters so unfamiliar?

God doesn't need a slave to order and say: Build an ark! He could have made it in a second. God desires a partner. It is up to us to rise to that role. Noah's greatness was that he figured it out.

Chag Sameach-Happy Yom Ha'atzmaut and Shabbat Shalom

A devar torah you can 'count on.' Shabbat Shalom from the Foundation Stone

Understanding time, tefillin, and Torah and how they inexorably lead to: Empowerment

Esau handled the meeting with Jacob far more grace than most people manage an argument with a spouse. Not bad behavior for a person we are taught is one of the most evil biblical characters!

Each prayer, Shabbat, Torah study and Mitzvah offer us, in our imperfections, to connect with the Eternal. Jacob insists that we first reject the shame we've carried since Adam and Eve, and understand that there is a place in Paradise even for the imperfect.

We explore life through the lens of Torah through the entire year. Now that Pesach approaches, we pause and listen as this week we hear God's loving call as if For The First Time.

We stand everyday as did Nadav and Avihu, searching to elevate our actions into meaning, desperate to 'make a difference," trying to get the heavens into our heads

I can empathize with the Children of Israel wanting to send spies to see the land they were to conquer. Once they could see with x-ray vision, "The entire people saw the thunder...the sound of the shofar" but now, no longer

I look toward Shavuot as an opportunity to not only absorb the Torah's wisdom, but as a chance to apply its wisdom so well that God the Teacher will look at us say, "Yet more have I received from My students"

Displacement as motivation? Just ask Korach's sons.

Moses was stuck outside the Tabernacle with the people who built it. He understood at that moment the message of the Half Shekel, or, my fifty cents. He was not standing as the great Moses or the awesome Moses who could meet with God in Heaven. He stood outside as one of the people who all contributed a Half Shekel, fifty cents. It was at that moment that Moses became the most humble of men. I can almost hear the coins jingling in his pocket.

It is impossible to be involved in life without somehow sensing endings. We need not be permanently scarred by our beginnings, nor scared of what seems to be the death of a relationship.

This week's portion, Re'ei, speaks of our need for a sense of place, how difficult it often is to find, and how we must protect others' sense of place. It also guides us in how to manage the experience of no place

Jacob was sending a message to his family and to us: Esau was of sufficient stature to merit angels to greet him. Jacob's years in the house of the scoundrel Laban taught him how to view his brother from a different perspective. He began to appreciate Esau's greatness,

Change is good; being a "Changer" is better.

Reflections on "mirror images"

On my watch

Each prayer, each Shabbat, each festival, each mitzvah, is an opportunity to reconnect to that very different wedding at Sinai

I can see how much I have and celebrate my plenty by bringing a small slice of heaven to others who have even less.

"A father of philosophy, the father of the Hebrews and his slave get together,,," sounds like the start of an ancient joke but read on...

Many years ago, I took my children to the Museum of Natural History in Manhattan. A guide took us around and was patiently describing...

It is Judah's honesty that triggers Joseph's decision to reveal his identity.

The Tabernacle was more dangerous than the Red Heifer because absolutely everything about its construction and functioning seems so mysterious

Our portion is about lives in which we experience moments of greatness and moments of insignificance; accomplishments and failures; Torah is not only for the 'perfect' person; It guides and nurtures the rest of us as well.

Jacob did not have problems with 'doorways.' He experienced one emotional earthquake after another, and managed to maintain focus. No 'event boundary' issues for our hero. How did he do it?