שִׁ֗יר לַֽמַּ֫עֲל֥וֹת אֶשָּׂ֣א עֵ֭ינַי אֶל־הֶהָרִ֑ים מֵ֝אַ֗יִן יָבֹ֥א עֶזְרִֽי׃ עֶ֭זְרִי מֵעִ֣ם יְהוָ֑ה עֹ֝שֵׂ֗ה שָׁמַ֥יִם וָאָֽרֶץ׃ A Song of Ascents: I lift my eyes to the mountains; from where will my help come? My help comes from Hashem; maker of heavens and earth. -Psalm 121:12 The perennial question of why we still read about sacrifices so long after sacrifices ceased from our…
By Webmaster
Last Shabbat, March 9th, CBI held a special Shabbat service commemorating the 30th anniversary of the founding of Women of the Wall. The service was led, start to finish, by CBI's incredible women. The d'var Torah was presented by Julie Sherman. Here is what she had to say: This weekend we are marking the 30th anniversary of the Women of…
*rabbi's note: I would have loved to have had the time to go into great detailed explanation of each and every nuance of the various arguments alluded to here and bring together all of the relevant Torah verses, midrash, Talmud, and comments. Unfortunately, time does not allow for such a detailed analysis this year - God willing in the future.*…
I remember around 20 years ago, maybe more, reading a book called The Bible Codes by Michael Drosnin, I won't get into the details of it, but it was a fascinating read that is probably nonsense. The basic idea is that there are coded messages hidden within the Hebrew text of the Bible. This is an idea which has captivated…
I learn a decent amount of midrash, and a teach a fair amount of it as well. I love the creativity and ingenuity, and the ownership claimed to be able to read into and out of the text. Sometimes the midrash seems far-fetched, and sometimes it provides interpretations which are interesting and productive, and other times it is clearly the…
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)