Writing

The concept of doing something Lishmah (for its sake) is...

“Out of sight, out of mind” is a very truthful...

The truth is we all will fall time and again....

At my weekly fire on the beach earlier tonight, some...

The part of poetry that I love the most, beyond...

When Jon Batiste won the well deserved Grammy for Best...

Let Go, Let God All of life is about the...

Going through a break up can be one of the...

“My kedushah (holiness) is greater than yours.” – The Maggid...

The great Rabbi Akiva taught that the fundamental principle of...

“I visualize what it is, not what is isn’t” –...

Radiant is the world soul, Full of splendor and beauty,...

“120 years ago to the day, a Jewish boy with...

Introduction: Winks from Above As is customary, in the first...

“The sign of circumcision is, as I think, so important,...

When I can’t sleep, I often free verse / wax...

Radiant is the world soul, Full of splendor and beauty,...

Soon we will be reading the Megillah (scroll) of Esther...

There was a time when I stopped visiting Israel, because...

Last week, we discussed the notion that Exile is a...

So many of us feel disconnected so much of the...

It’s wild to me to think how some folks don’t...

Crushed for Illumination  This week has been a bit more...

Introduction “Tzedakah and acts of kindness are the equivalent of...

Introduction– Unconditional Love Means Unconditional Giving  As a father, I’m...

I don’t even recall how we initially connected, but years...

Our parashah of Beshalach opens with:  וַיְהִ֗י בְּשַׁלַּ֣ח פַּרְעֹה֮ אֶת־הָעָם֒...

Hey there, you, shattered in a thousand pieces Weeping in...

Introduction: There’s levels to this  This week’s parashah of Va’eira...

I remember being a music director at WMUC, in Maryland....

Carrie Fisher used to say, “take your broken heart, make...

It seems that each of our lives is a string...

We saw last week that Yosef’s karma came quickly: everything...

Blessings don’t come easily in this world. Everything of great...

We all have encountered Esavs in our lives, whether as...

So much of emunah (faith) and connectedness revolve around sleep...

It seems that in almost every moment of our lives...

The Talmud teaches that “In the merit of righteous women,...

It’s been a tough week for me personally, and I...

Most of us find it challenging to truly go inward....

This week is the famous story of Noach and the...

This parashah of Bereishit, especially the first aliyah, contains almost...

When I was a kid, I didn’t like that my...

My mom (Frida Levona bat Shalom) taught Talmud to women,...

I love writing, I love making music and I dig...

The Rashbam says the entire book of Devarim (Deuteronomy) is...

As we touched on in parashat Ki Teitzei, another way...

I’ve been to Israel so many times, it would be...

I was at the minyan I’m almost always at on...

The title of this Dvar is a wink to my...

“His [God’s] tzedakah endures forever.” As I read these words...

When I was living in Bushwick, NY, my roommate Aaron...

“This Torah shall not be removed from your mouth”  Rabbi...

My mom was born in 47, and would have been...

Tisha B’av is the most somber day in the Jewish...

Thinking about nedarim (vows) in this parashah brought to mind...

My Great-grandfather (Saba Shelomo, pictured here with my mom and...

There’s one kind of religious thought, which now feels antiquated,...

I want to apologize if this dvar is shorter and...

“The best fighter is never angry.” ― Lao Tzu Being...

This month is devoted to mental health and breaking the...

This weekly Light of Infinite project began on the Yartzeit...

When Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. asked Rabbi Everett Gendler to...