Blog

 Life is never simple, and the struggle to overcome fear and be a better person is a continuing journey of wrestling so that holy Light may prevail.  We see this clearly in the well known story of Jacob wrestling with the angel.

How many of us have a Hebrew name somewhere in our family line like Avraham, Sarah,Yitchak (Isaac), Rivkah (Rebecca), or Ya’akov(Jacob), Rachel or Leah? The Torah portions in Genesis, from Lech Lcha through Vayeishev, tell the stories of our Avot and Imahot, our Fathers and Mothers in Israel. They received G!d's blessings for themselves and for the people Israel, and carried our Jewish heritage through many times that were challenging.

Our forefather Avram had his name changed by G!d to Av-raham, father of multitudes.  His life was not easy. At age 75 he heard G!d telling him to leave his home, and that “in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” (Gen. 12:3)

Heeding the call he travelled to Canaan where there was a famine, then down to Egypt where his wife was nearly taken by the Pharoah, then back to Canaan. There his beloved nephew Lot was captured and he had to battle against five kings to free him.

Happiness is sharing a The Magic Gourd: A Story for Sukkot by Debra Gordon Zaslow from Mitzvah Stories: Seeds for Inspiration and Learning. Chag sameach to all!

One Sukkot tradition that I love and is not so well known is the practice of inviting guests who are only in spirit.  Traditionally we invite Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and other Biblical male ancestors, one each night. But we need not be limited to those ancestors or to the custom of inviting one each night.

As Yom Kippur approaches our thoughts turn to remembering our loved ones,family and friends whose living presence in our lives we miss.

This picture I took today at NewCaje; shows Rabbi Michael Shire, Dean of the Shoolman Graduate School of Jewish Education at Boston Hebrew College, telling the story of the Babylonian Exile, in a soft voice, using small items--blue yarn to represent rivers, lines drawn in the sand to represent the temple, small non-gendered identical wooden figures to represent people.

Recently I especially love serving in a Farbrengen format, such as we'll be offering this Sat evening in Montreal. Scientists are increasingly offering substantiation for how the farbrengen approach is healthy for us all, including teens and elders. Here's an example of the most recent research: