Lo Hametim halleluyah V’lo kol yirdei dumah Those who have died, those who have gone to the land of the silent cannot praise God. These words from the Hallel have always intrigued me because they communicate a profound philosophical insight. Regardless of one’s belief about the after-life, about souls living on or reuniting somewhere, somehow,… Read more »

There are two concepts that make prayer hard for me, especially around Rosh HaShannah and Yom Kippur. Melech HaOlam: King, Queen, Monarch, Ruler.   No matter if you feminize it or neutralize it, this is a tough concept for me.  And we say it a lot over Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.  GD as King feels… Read more »

Elul for me marks the turn of the wheel – the next cycle as one year turns into another. As I work in education, it coincides with the new year professionally, but it is the true New Year – rather than Jan. 1. It is when I take stock as in years past and ask… Read more »

As we approach 5786, we face three existential threats: climate change, global governance, and artificial intelligence. The first two, vast though they are, feel philosophically straightforward. We know what must be done; the tragedy is that humanity may not act before the damage is irreparable. AI, however, strikes more deeply at the level of purpose.… Read more »

Every year I can remember, as we approach Yizkor, the rabbi implores even those who have not lost a loved one to stay and daven with those who have. In my early youth, those thirty minutes were my lunch break and, for the decades that followed when I was old enough to fast, I would… Read more »