We have our basic ingredients: flour, eggs, yeast, water, oil, sugar, and salt. We can even add chocolate chips, raisins, sprinkles, or food coloring — the options are limitless. But there’s more to a challah than her ingredients. There’s time: the time it takes to mix the ingredients, for the yeast to rise, and to knead the dough. There’s the time it takes to let the dough rise, and there’s the time it takes to braid the dough into a beautiful pattern. There’s the time it takes to bake the challah, and then, there’s everyone’s favorite part, the time it takes to eat the challah! More than time, there are the hands it takes to crack the eggs, the eyes it takes to measure the ingredients, and the taste buds it takes to decide whether or not we made a good batch. More than the senses, there is a spirituality to the challah. We’re making the challah for someone: for ourselves, for our family, or our friends. We’re thinking about who we have made challah with or cooked with in … [Read more...]
The Fading Rainbow
It’s been raining for the past two weeks, and with each downpour, I’ve been twisting my head and turning my neck, looking for a rainbow — storm after storm, and I wasn’t having any luck. Then, on Monday night, Rabbi Max and I were driving home from dinner and I finally twisted my head and turned my neck to see THE MOST BEAUTIFUL RAINBOW. Her arches formed over a golden, violet, and deep blue sky. My jaw dropped as we drove, we made a turn, and then suddenly we were able to see the entire arch of the rainbow. With eyes wide, I began to recite the blessing we have the honor to say upon seeing such a marvelous wonder: Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech haolam, zocher hab'rit v'neeman biv'rito v'kayam ma-amaro. Blessed are You, Source of Eternity, who remembers, is faithful to, and fulfills Your covenant with a promise to creation. Seeing a rainbow is a reminder that God is in relationship with us, but not just the “us” of the Jewish people. Sure, the rainbow reminds us of … [Read more...]
Can you perform a mitzvah with something stolen?
Alternatively, we could ask whether or not it is allowed to do something that is good or holy while also doing something illegal or spiritually harmful. In the Talmud the rabbis ask this question around a stolen etrog, the lemon shaped fruit used on Sukkot. The rabbis ask whether or not a stolen etrog may be used in the rituals of the holiday. Even though this particular case doesn’t come up often (or ever) in our daily life, the principle is valid everyday. In this week’s parasha, Hukkat, Moses and Aaron are charged with retrieving water from a rock in the desert. Both of these leaders are fed up with the bickering of the Israelites, and in a fit of anger, Moses disobeys God’s instructions for pulling water from a rock. God tells Moses to speak to the rock, and the rock would give forth water; instead, Moses strikes the rock, twice, and the water still comes out. Undoubtedly, giving water to thirsty people in the dessert is a mitzvah (both a good deed and a commandment), but Moses … [Read more...]
Upon Hearing a Siren
Earlier this week, I was jolted awake from a dead sleep at 1:10 a.m. by the piercing sound of my smoke detector. This was not the annoying beeping sound those detectors make when you burn the salmon on the cast iron skillet, no, this was the most terrifying, loud, screech that ensured that if something were wrong, I would wake up. This sound blasted through the apartment because the fire alarm in my section of the complex was ringing through the halls. As I gathered some things to exit the apartment, I finally got my breath back, and my first thought was, “I hope everyone is okay, let everyone be okay.” I was undoubtedly holding some other feelings at that moment as well, but I was almost relieved that this was my first reaction, because I don’t believe it would have been my first thought a few months back. However, I had recently studied a teaching by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, also known as Reb Zalman, and a founder of the Renewal movement. He suggests that when we hear a … [Read more...]
Rabbi, what’s the best part of Israel?
You could say the beaches of Tel Aviv, the Western Wall in Jerusalem, the tastes and smells of the amazing food, or the sounds of Hebrew, but truly the best part of Israel is the people! When we visit Israel and come back home, the most precious thing we bring back cannot be purchased from any store. The most valuable part of our visit is our relationship with the people. Sadly, not everyone has the opportunity to visit Israel and make these relationships. Fortunately, we as a Temple Emanu-El community, have an amazing opportunity to bring a piece of Israel into our home. This year, Temple Emanu-El will host an incredible young Israeli who will be with us nearly every week. The program that enables us to have such an opportunity is called in Hebrew, “Sh’nat Sherut” or Year of Service (shorthand we call it “Shinshin,” like the letter “shin” said twice). Through the Jewish Federation of Atlanta and the Jewish Agency, each child at Temple Emanu-El will have the opportunity to learn … [Read more...]
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