Welcome to Shabbat Awakenings, a weekly reflection as we move toward Shabbat. Every year around this time, people say, “Happy New Year” and I catch myself from saying, “Shanah Tovah” in return. “Happy New Year” and “Shanah Tovah” are worlds apart. This week’s Torah portion drives this lesson home. We reach the end of […]

Welcome to Shabbat Awakenings, a weekly reflection. This week’s Torah portion, Vayigash, is about bravery and courage.  Its title is the verb attached to the idea of being willing to step forward without certainty of the reaction. We are in the middle of the Joseph narrative. Joseph has already arrived to Egypt and achieved status […]

  Welcome to Shabbat Awakenings! We are right in the middle of Chanukah. And right in the middle of the Shabbat service, we add this prayer (Mishkan T’filah  pg. 265) for the Festival of Lights: We thank You for the miracles, for the redemption, for the mighty deeds and saving acts, brought about by You, […]

Welcome to Shabbat Awakenings, a weekly reflection as we move toward Shabbat. I am participating in our Reform movement’s Biennial gathering held here in Boston joined by dozens of TI folks. It’s a wonderful equation for a vibrant and actively engaged present and future. At the same time, we all are paying close attention to Israel. The Union […]

  Welcome to Shabbat Awakenings, a weekly reflection. It’s an ancient problem that won’t go away. Recent articles have spoken about it as if it’s a realization not considered until a mere few centuries ago. But it goes back much further than that. Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, chief of the country, saw her, […]