Jewish Relationships Initiative

Re’eh · O Say, Can You See?

My father kept one of those hokey maxims framed on his office wall: “When you are up to your a** in alligators, it’s hard to remember that your initial objective was to drain the swamp.” I used to smile at it and move on....

Re’eh · O Say, Can You See? My father kept one of those hokey maxims framed on his office wall: “When you are up to your a** in alligators, it’s hard to remember that your initial objective was to drain the swamp.” I used to …

Eikev- Gratitude-Shabbat Shalom

This Shabbat Parshat Eikev gives us many things to contemplate. Foremost is gratitude. v’achalta v’savata u’veirachta: you shall eat and be satisfied and bless....

Eikev- Gratitude-Shabbat Shalom This Shabbat Parshat Eikev gives us many things to contemplate. Foremost is gratitude. v’achalta v’savata u’veirachta: you shall eat and be satisfied and bless. The obligation to feel gratitude i…

Parshat Eikev — “My Power and the Might of My Hand”

Every success we’ve ever had, we tell ourselves we earned outright. Ourselves alone. Our sweat, our sleepless nights, our nerve....

Parshat Eikev — “My Power and the Might of My Hand” Every success we’ve ever had, we tell ourselves we earned outright. Ourselves alone. Our sweat, our sleepless nights, our nerve. It is almost never true, and Parshat Eikev names the lie for what it…

Shabbat Shalom

Va’etchanan gives us the Shema — the prayer we say morning and night, the prayer on our lips at life’s last moment....

Shabbat Shalom Va’etchanan gives us the Shema — the prayer we say morning and night, the prayer on our lips at life’s last moment. Simon & Garfunkel understood what it means to be a bridge for someone who nee…

What story do we tell ourselves? Parsha V’etchanan

What story do we tell ourselves? Our memory of events often differs from what actually happened. The deviation from the facts is not due to faulty memory; instead, it reveals a story that better meets deeper personal needs as we try to find meaning in the experience....

What story do we tell ourselves? Parsha V’etchanan What story do we tell ourselves? Our memory of events often differs from what actually happened. The deviation from the facts is not due to faulty memory; instead, it reveals a story that better me…

Shabbat Shalom -Dvarim, Joni Mitchell and Both Sides Now

As we welcome the Shabbat of Parsha Devarim, Moses recalls the long journey and we look back with Joni Mitchell....

Shabbat Shalom -Dvarim, Joni Mitchell and Both Sides Now As we welcome the Shabbat of Parsha Devarim, Moses recalls the long journey and we look back with Joni Mitchell. Shabbat Shalom עוֹשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם בִּמְרוֹמָיו הוּא יַעֲשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם עָלֵינוּ וְעַל כָּ…

Devarim-The Stories We Need to Tell

What do we owe the generation that comes after us, and what do they owe us? That is the question Moses forces on us in Devarim. He stands before a people about to cross the Jordan and does what dying leaders do: tells it one more time. But if you hold Devarim next to Numbers and Exodus, you notice the edits....

Devarim-The Stories We Need to Tell What do we owe the generation that comes after us, and what do they owe us? That is the question Moses forces on us in Devarim. He stands before a people about to cross the Jordan and does what dyi…

Shabbat Shalom

Pitchu Li- Open the Gates of Righteousness, performed by the Diaspora Yeshiva Band, is an upbeat way to welcome Shabbat. In Torah, we are at the gates of the Promised Land. Let us remember and celebrate. Shabbat Shalom עוֹשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם בִּמְרוֹמָיו הוּא יַעֲשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם עָלֵינוּ וְעַל כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל וְעַל כָּל יוֺשְׁבֵי תֵבֶל וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן May the One who makes peace in the high places, bring peace upon us, and upon all Israel, and all humankind, and let us say: Amen.

Shabbat Shalom Pitchu Li- Open the Gates of Righteousness, performed by the Diaspora Yeshiva Band, is an upbeat way to welcome Shabbat. In Torah, we are at the gates of the Promised Land. Let us remember and ce…

Masei – What do we owe the person who broke something they never meant to break?

Masei spends its final chapters on legal architecture, tribal borders, and inheritance rules. But it also includes the law of the arei miklat, the cities of refuge, built for the person who kills b'shogeg by accident. The neighbor whose axe head flew off the handle. The driver who looked down for just one second. The Hebrew is doing something specific....

Masei – What do we owe the person who broke something they never meant to break? Masei spends its final chapters on legal architecture, tribal borders, and inheritance rules. But it also includes the law of the arei miklat, the cities of refuge, built for the person who kills b…

Matot – What holds you to another person once you want something they don’t?

That question sits beneath Matot, and the text hides it in a structural trick. The parasha opens with the laws of vows: ish ki yidor neder l’Adonai... lo yachel devaro — if a man vows a vow, he shall not profane his word; he must do all that comes from his mouth. Yachel means to profane, to hollow out, to treat as common what should have been set apart....

Matot – What holds you to another person once you want something they don’t? That question sits beneath Matot, and the text hides it in a structural trick. The parasha opens with the laws of vows: ish ki yidor neder l’Adonai… lo yachel devaro — if a man vows a vow, he…