Vaccinate Your Soul – Resilience in 5782

This is the Torah that I need to hear the most right now, so I’m sharing it with you all. In Hebrew, the word for “resilience” is חוֹסֶן נַפְשִׁי ḥosen nafshi.  חוֹסֶן Ḥosen is like the word חִסּוּן ḥisun, which is the word for vaccination.נַפְשִׁי Nafshi is like נֶפֶשׁ nefesh, which is “soul.” So there’s …

Shifting Gears – 929 – 5782

Hi folks! As you may be able to tell by the title of this post, I've decided to shift gears a bit with this blog. It has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life to read the Torah front to back multiple times over the past 5 or so years. I have …

Ta’aseh – Parashat Shemot 5782

Welcome to the next book of the Torah, Sefer Shemot/Book of Exodus/סֵפֶר שְׁמוֹת!!! This parashah is the start of a new book of the Torah, and it opens with a census of the Israelites in Egypt by using their names. There are a variety of ways in which we use names in Judaism, and the …

The Four Modern Shmitah Pillars – Shmitah, 5782

If you are interested in learning more about how ancient traditions Jewish traditions can be translated into our modern lives, check out the essay I wrote for Hazon's Shmita Project! I'm always happy to talk Shmitah, Jewish life, existential questions, or anything else, just send me a message 🙂 https://shmitaproject.org/submissions/the-four-modern-pillars-of-shmitah/

On One Broken Foot – Parashat Vayeitzei 5782

I've been thinking a lot about a message I received from a colleague earlier this week when I had to last-minute-cancel a meeting we had planned a month ago. It has really been one thing after another for me this year, and having a broken foot (yup, ER doc says it's broken!) is not something …