This Shabbat, all around the world, Jews will sing the medieval hymn Adon Olam. Because we usually sing it at…
Category: Spirituality
Don't Expect a Perfect Rabbi
Rabbinic scandals, anyone? Voyeurism, clannishness, sexual harassment, court battles over defamation. We’re shocked – not just because we expect better.…
Staying in the Room
Recently, a new artisan storefront opened near my Main Street home. As I like to support local artisans, I wandered…
Malchut: Levinas on Response-ability
Malchut. Literally: kingdom, reign, royalty. Kabbalistically: seat of God’s throne where heaven and earth meet, cosmic cervix that births the…
Yesod: Cohen on Peace
Sixth week of the Omer count: An opportunity to reflect on Yesod: Foundation In today’s “postmodern” intellectual climate, philosophers like…
Hod: Two Philosophers, Two Qualities
“To you God, belongs greatness, strength (gevurah), beauty (tiferet), eternity (netzach) and splendour (hod), because…well, everything in heaven and on…
Fly On, Sweetie
We sat on my brother’s tiny urban porch, in the bright sun, six stories above the street. A fly lit…
Netzach: Ibn Gabirol on Eternity
Netzach: I translate it as “endurance” and as “eternity.” “Eternity” fits when I imagine the sefirot as qualities of the…
Tiferet: Plotinus on Beauty
Beauty: I see it in flaming sunsets, soaring raptors, astonishing works of art. I want those experiences to last forever; they seem…