I've long been fascinated by all things related to sacrifices. I think it's because I find ritual to be, well, strange. I've always been one who finds more meaning in seeing other people find meaning in ritual than I actually personally find in the ritual itself. Performative ritual can feel so forced, but there are some people who connect so…
By Webmaster
Shabbat, two weeks ago, I heard a remarkable sermon by Justin, our rabbi. He introduced it by saying that this time he would be sharing his “theology” with us. I am not aware that he ever gives a title to his sermons but were I to give a title to that sermon it would be “Beware of Jewish hubris or chutzpah.” I…
By Rick Chess
Melekh matzmiach y’shuah; “sovereign who causes redemption to flourish.” As I have countless times, I prayed those words on Shabbat morning. They come in the opening passages of the Amidah, the standing Jewish Prayer of Prayers. This particular Shabbat followed shortly after a visit to UNC Asheville by Tamika Mallory, co-president of the Women’s March. Matzmiach: in Siddur Lev Shalem, the prayerbook…
I like to say that the Torah is perfect even in its mistakes. And while there are examples of what are likely mistakes in the Torah, that's not actually what I want to talk about here. So while the Torah is perfect even in its mistakes, the Talmud is not - when there are mistakes in the Talmud it's simply…
When I was in rabbinical school, I was tasked with engaging in an intensive study not unlike a master’s thesis. My offering was titled When Genres Collide: Literature as Law, Law as Literature. The basic premise of the piece was an analysis of selections from two Talmudic anthologies: Rabbi Yitzhak Alfasi's (the Rif) Sefer HaHalakhot, the Book of Laws, and Rabbi Yaakov…
I'll never forget my first day in Asheville. 1997, standing in the parking lot of the French Broad Food Co-op thinking, "I will live here one day." Throughout my years at Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in L.A., I often thought of Asheville and CBI. Danielle and I were married in Montford. Our aufruf (when the groom is called to the Torah) was in the small CBI chapel. To be honest, I never envisioned being a pulpit rabbi - I love community organizing and non-profit management - but if there was one place I would want to be a pulpit rabbi, I knew it would be here. (read more)