In Parashat Kedoshim, the commandment to leave the corners of fields and designate that produce for the poor, as well as after-growth and dropped sheaves and so forth, is given over. So why is it repeated again in Parashat Emor? How does this second iteration of the same mitzvah influence our understanding? Rashi has the same question... He explains that…
Religion produces some, shall we say, strange practices. Public ritual is a theatrical process designed to inspire a certain emotional state which inspires recognition and awareness through its symbolism. For our ancestors, and even for us, there is no ritual more entrenched in this public theatrical process than Yom Kippur. In the narrative of the Torah, the rituals of Yom…
The seventh day of Pesah, shvi'i shel pesah, is a robust and meaningful moment in the Jewish calendar. In the narrative of the Exodus, shvi'i shel pesah is the moment when the Children of Yisrael enter the split sea. This year I have been repeatedly asking myself the question: when are we liberated? When we slaughter the pesah offering and eat it with…
It is a rare and unique ritual in the Passover Seder to recite Hallel at night - at all other times of the year it is not something we ever do. What is more, we recite half of Hallel before the second cup of wine and the other half before the fourth cup of wine. The secret to understanding why…
The Rabbis taught that there are ten reasons why a person contracts tzara'at: idolatry, sexual immorality, murder, desecrating God's name, cursing in God's name, stealing from the public, stealing something belonging to someone else, arrogance, gossip, and viewing others in an unnecessarily negative light. While often translated as leprosy, tzara'at was a growth that afflicted skin, hair, clothing, and stone walls. It…
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)