Years ago, I was sitting innocently on a bus with Tanach (Bible) in hand when a man began to educate me on what he saw as the Bible’s mistakes. He believed Saul, the first king of Israel, was cheated: he was the better man and should never have lost his throne to David – David […]

Elul is known as the period when “the King is in the field.” Both in our tefillot (prayers) and mitzvot (commandments), Hashem is tangibly closer to us. The Shechina (God’s presence) is stronger, the kedusha (holiness) is more intense. God is more accessible at this time.   The layers of camouflage which normally mask reality and make […]

Years ago, I had just arrived at seminary in Israel and soon after I learned that a friend who was key to inspiring my journey had misrepresented herself to me. I was confused, upset and didn’t know how to continue having a spiritual experience when I had been so let down. I confided in a […]

Late Saturday night, the world received dreaded news – six Jewish hostages taken by Hamas on October 7  had been executed by the terror organization shortly before the IDF reached them. Among the slain was American citizen, Hersh Polin-Goldberg, whose parents have become symbols of an indefatigable fight to rescue their beloved son held in […]

(Editor’s Note: While this article was written years before October 7, its words ring truer than ever. The Jewish people are experiencing the worse calamity in our lifetimes and even as we heal, we will forever carry brokenness. This is not new to our people. Rabbi Aaron Goldscheider poignantly explains what it looks like to […]

I’m pretty sure that there’s a place in hell where the really bad people are trapped in a shoe store with hordes of short people who whine “Mommy” at them – forever.  There is a certain dread that fills my being at the end of every summer as we begin our back to school shopping. The […]