Sep 22, 2019Do the Clothes Make the Man? What Ishay Ribo and the Kohen Gadol Can Teach Us About TransformationDo the Clothes Make the Man? What Ishay Ribo and the Kohen Gadol Can Teach Us About Transformation Note: A version of this post was originally delivered as a d’var torah at Darkhei Noam in New York City for Parshat Ki Tavo in 2019. On the off chance you’ve missed it, there’s a song called Seder HaAvodah by Ishay Ribo that is going around the Jewish internet right…Judaism7 min readJudaism7 min read
Mar 30, 2018The Haggadah’s Aramaic Portion is Its Most Important Part. Here’s Why.A small piece of Pesach Torah: The magid section of the haggadah, which is the heart of the seder, opens with the famous words of הא לחמא עניא. We say, כל דכפין ייתי ויכל. כל דצריך ייתי ויפסח. Let all who are hungry come and eat, let all who are…Judaism3 min readJudaism3 min read
Sep 28, 2017Prostration and Protest“Take a knee.” When I signed onto Facebook after three days offline for Rosh Hashanah and Shabbat, the message I saw over and over was “take a knee.” At first, I was confused by the sudden call to take a knee, knowing that Colin Kaepernick still hadn’t been signed by…Judaism5 min readJudaism5 min read
Sep 11, 2017Building Small Memorials in TimeWhat do you say on a day like today? 16 years. The sky is blue again. The world moved on, except that it hasn’t really, because nothing ever will be the same again. …Grief3 min readGrief3 min read
Aug 20, 2017The Torah’s Time for ChoosingNote: A version of this post was originally delivered as a d’var torah at Darkhei Noam in New York City for Parshat Re’eh. I don’t know what to say. I’m not supposed to say that. I’m an educator. I learn and teach Torah for a living. I talk for a…Judaism5 min readJudaism5 min read