Image by Ri Butov from Pixabay Today we begin the Hebrew month of Elul - the final month in the year that began with Rosh HaShanah, the head of the year, last September. It’s a little amusing that the Hebrew months actually all have Babylonian names - in the Bible, they are mostly referred to … Continue reading I am My Beloved’s and My Beloved Is Mine

Click the picture to watch the reel! The following information comes from Standing Together in Israel/Palestine: Over the past few weeks, thousands of Palestinians and Jews in Israel have been donating food and aid to people in Gaza, and working tirelessly to get it ready to be transported via an international NGO.  We collected food … Continue reading Let’s Help Send Food to Gaza

Image by Jacques GAIMARD from Pixabay The philosopher Judith Butler has developed a concept they call “grievability” - the idea that if someone is grieved when they die, it means their life was considered worth living. In particular, not just by family and friends, but as a generally acknowledged loss, noticed by the dominant society. … Continue reading Grievability and Humanity

Image by Alexander from Pixabay Hey friends, I know it’s been a while since I last talked about wellness stuff. There is so much going on in the world! People can be easily excused if they forget to take care of themselves while trying to keep up with everything, especially those who have family in … Continue reading Let’s Talk About Sleep, Again

Image by Anil sharma from Pixabay Here’s a hot take. Is it time to abolish women’s sports, and just have competition classes based on other criteria, to make sure things remain reasonably fair for everyone? Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you have probably become aware of a controversy at the Olympics, involving two … Continue reading On Boxers and Misogyny

Image by Alexa from Pixabay I saw a plaintive tweet the other day, in which the person expressed the fervent desire to live in somewhat less historic times. I could definitely relate to that. Sadly, we don’t get to choose the times we live in. All we can do is choose how we react to … Continue reading Living in Interesting Times

Image credit: Pixabay I don’t often connect these little articles to the Torah portion, but this week we are reading Parashat Pinchas - the section of the Five Books of Moses named after the zealous priest Pinchas, the grandson of Aaron. Since this portion always falls during the summer, it doesn’t always get the attention … Continue reading Zealotry and Peace

Join us! I recently had the privilege of joining the Friends of Standing Together - an international network of supporters of Standing Together. Here is what they say on their website, and I couldn’t say it better. Standing Together  is a progressive grassroots movement mobilizing Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel against the occupation and … Continue reading Supporting Standing Together

Image by Jean Borges from Pixabay We are finally almost there! My son and his lovely betrothed are about to tie the knot. We are  currently in a blur of activity - so one of the casualties has been my weekly writing. I’ll be back in a couple of weeks - enjoy July in the … Continue reading Wedding Break

Image by istara from Pixabay I applied for a fellowship the other day, which required me to find, read in Hebrew, translate and interpret for a general audience a short passage about one of the Jewish holidays from a Hasidic master. Quite the mouthful! One of my favourite Shabbat readings is the work of Rabbi … Continue reading Keeping the Gold Untarnished