Bring The Sacred Down To Earth, Inspiring Story, Longform / 27 Oct 2021
Abraham’s Conflicted Love
We live in an era of punditry. Everyone has an interpretation of events, yet few of us stop to understand what actually might have happened. Interpretation occludes understanding, as tenuously grand conclusions occlude more modest insights that are built upon a firmer footing. Similar critique might be applied to how many of us approach the founder of the Jewish people, Abraham. To venerate the origins of Judaism itself, we conclude at the outset that he was a moral superhero – all the while deemphasizing a personal life riddled with painful complexity. We would do well to reexamine his personal life, as it may shed new light on his public leadership role. In his family, Abraham seems unnecessarily cruel, even at times vindictive. He abusively offers his wife Sarah to Pharaoh as a consort for financial gain. He fervently argues against the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah but does not so much as express surprise when God asks him to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac. He and Sarah suffer from infertility challenges, while he willingly accepts Sarah’s offer of her handmaid Hagar to be his lover and their surrogate. Then, when Hagar is pregnant, he allows Sarah to make life untenable such that Hagar runs away to the wilderness. Abraham’s conduct seems entirely at odds with the tradition that he cofounded and the values that we profess as rabbinic Jews today. It might have even greater complexity than initially meets the eye. In this week’s Torah portion, Chayei Sarah (Genesis 23:1 – 25: 18), we learn that after Sarah dies, Abraham devotes himself to finding Isaac a suitable spouse. He dispatches a servant to bring back a worthy partner from Haran, where Abraham once lived. The servant returns with Rebecca – and enables Isaac to refocus on the life of his…
Spirituality & Faith / 27 Oct 2021
Honoring The Legacy Of The Tree Of Life Synagogue Murder Victims
The truest memorial is the one that is ongoing and changing…
Hold Dualities Together / 19 Oct 2021
The Social Shutdown – What Did It Teach Us?
Have you already forgotten the lessons of the social shutdown?
Hold Dualities Together / 14 Oct 2021
Would the World Be a Better Place If We All Spoke One Language?
Would we be more united if we all spoke the same language?
Compassion for difficulties / 08 Oct 2021
What I Learned About Compassion After Being Assaulted
An attack on a man with autism causes him to reflect on his life.
Does it make sense to blame devastating floods in CO on the fact that State House Majority Leader Mark Ferrandino and his partner were kissing in public, and that the Denver Post covered their kiss?? Pastor Kevin Swanson certainly thinks so, and so did his radio co-host Dave Buehner.? Could they be onto something? Now before anyone starts screaming; let me explain what I mean, and why I think it may be useful to take their question seriously, even if I find their conclusion pretty much repulsive. I start from the premise......
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Which one of these sites would you more likely visit??Science is Awesome or I Fucking Love Science? Now, be honest. Well, It turns out these two sites are identical and are curated by the Canada-based self-made social media celebrity, Elise Andrew who recently was a guest speaker for close to one thousand ticket buyers at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC . According to Facebook, as of today the site Science is Awesome has 533,404 likes and 188,089 talking about this while the less elegantly titled site has 6,920,076 likes......
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When you think about what it means to be spiritual, find spirituality, or anything remotely approximating those experiences, what do you think of? Do you find your attention turning to experiences and images of relative solitude? Of solitary walks on the beach or perhaps, lonely mountain peaks? That is certainly one spiritual type. But not the only one. Perhaps, when you think of being spiritual, you imagine yourself amidst raucous crowds, at home in messy scenes replete with food and wine and loud singing. Do you find that your most spirited moments......
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Business & Education, Wisdom Warehouse |
September 17, 2013
Trading Technology for Top Teachers Isn’t the Answer
They say that doing the same thing over and over again, while expecting a different result, is the definition of insanity.? “They” are not always right, but when it comes to how we spend money on public education in this country, they may be. We spend a great deal of money on education in this country – both in total, and on a per student basis – and over the last 40 years, that number has doubled.? With all that, we are not getting the results we need and kids are not......
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Keeping track of the Syria crisis these past couple of weeks has one’s head spinning. In a span of days we have seen the following: The President unilaterally ordering the bombing of Syria for crossing the red line of using chemical weapons, The President delaying military action, ceding presidential power and seeking approval from Congress, The American people?- tired after the failures of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya?- decisively rejecting military involvement, The President on the brink of not getting approval from Congress, Secretary Kerry’s offhand remark about Syria getting rid of all......
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Spirituality & Faith, Wisdom Warehouse |
September 13, 2013
Yom Kippur: The Truth About One’s Truths
Yom Kippur is the most sacred day in the Jewish calendar. Simply put, it is a day-long exercise in Reality Therapy. For 25 hours or so, the practice is to neither eat nor drink, nor make love, nor enjoy the comforts and conveniences of life – be it a shower or a smart phone – but to reflect and contemplate our mortality, to feel deeply there is no guarantee that we (or anyone in our life) will even be here tomorrow, to be on our deathbed but be fully conscious. Have you......
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Relationships & Family, Wisdom Warehouse |
September 12, 2013
Does Poverty Destroy Families, or Is it the Demise of Family that Increases Poverty?
We know that the gaps in both earning and in education are widening in America.? A new Ohio State University study by Zhenchao Qian, Divergent Paths of American Families, suggests that the two are closely related: those possessing better educations and greater earnings are more likely to live in two parent stable families, and those with less education and money are less likely to get married, or stay married, and have kids being raised by only one, or even no, parents. The analysis and commentary of the study run toward the assumption......
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I live in New York City. Two friends, including someone at whose wedding I had recently been the rabbi, died in the World Trade Center on 9/11. The acrid smell came through my apartment windows for days and sacred ashes, which I wiped away with tears, fell on my window sills for weeks. That day, my children who were 13 and 10 could not get home from school because the subways were closed. They have grown up in the shadow of 9/11 and the fog of war. The world seems far less......
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Daily Life, Wisdom Warehouse |
September 11, 2013
The Reward of Regret: Why Looking Back Can Actually Help Us Look Forward
Thank God for regret. Yes, that is right. Regret has become one of my most important sources of wisdom. Though, I can’t yet say I look forward to the inevitable feelings of regret that arise?- when I miss an opportunity or worse, when I do something I am ashamed of?- I can honestly say that regret does not mess me up anymore. Regret seems to be built into our human condition, for none of us lives up to our ideals completely. It isn’t only that we act less well towards others than......
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No, it’s not Disneyland, though they do issue passports.? The “correct” answer is Denmark, followed in descending order by Norway, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Sweden.? And just to make sure that the likely readers of these thoughts don’t get too depressed by worrying about being at the bottom of the list, Rwanda, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Benin and Togo — all nations in Sub-Saharan Africa – are bottom 5, so no worries there…unless of course you live in one of those countries.? The US?? Number 17.? For added texture, Canada came......
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Latest Video
Listen To The Names Of The Victims First
A video where Brad Hirschfield lists the victims names in the recent Orlando shooting. Because first we need to internalize a tragedy before we jump to speak.
