Parashat Balak

I leave you for this Shabbat with a great d’var Torah written by a guy I’ve never met :)  Michael Greenberg is an elementary school teacher in Staten Island, NY, and a member of Congregation Knesseth Israel in Bound Brook, NJ.  Not to be cliche, but we met on Facebook.  We have a mutual friend, … Continue reading →

Parashat Behar (a bit late): Sabbatical and Ger V’toshav: a Guide for Parents

This is a few days late, but it is my thoughts on parashat Behar, which is in the book of Vayikra, Leviticus.  This portion introduces the laws of shmita, or the agricultural Sabbatical year (the seventh year in a 7 year rotation).  It also introduces the yovel, or Jubilee year (the 50th year in a … Continue reading →

Monday’s Random Thoughts: parashat Behar, Why Don’t Parents Get a Sabbatical?, and Lag B’Omer Upsherin

Vayikra (Leviticus) Chapter 25 1 The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai: 2 Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: When you enter the land that I assign to you, the land shall observe a sabbath of the Lord. 3 Six years you may sow your field and six years you may … Continue reading →

Preschool Theology, Part II

Overheard in the bath: my daughter Shayna, the daughter of very ideological Reform Jews, and her cousin Maia, daughter of my brother and sister-in-law, who are Orthodox (the girls are the same age – just a few months apart): Shayna: Maia, guess what?  God lives in my pupik. Maia, very shocked: SHAYNA! THAT’S NOT TZNIUS … Continue reading →