Rabbi Guzik - A Bisl Torah

It is the season for change. As I was thinking about growth and improvement, I realized something shouldn’t diminish in the process: sense of self. Of all facets of life, being true to my values and morals and honest with...

In this season of searching for truths and wondering why and how, enjoy this beautiful musing from Gilda Radner: I wanted a perfect ending, So I sat down to write the book with the ending in place before there even...

It is hard to admit that “confessional” stands at the heart of the High Holy Day season. But throughout the liturgy, we beat our chests, publicly state our misgivings and pray that God has enough compassion this year to guide...

This week’s Bisl Torah is featured in the Jewish Journal. There is clearly a right and wrong way of expressing an apology. So many of us experience the latter. A mistake is made, and the following dialogue is used: I...

This week, Rabbi Sherman and I are serving as Rabbis-in-Residence at Camp Ramah in Ojai, CA. Please enjoy the words that Rabbi Sherman wrote and sent to the families of Ramah campers. Shabbat shalom! While I cannot count the number...

We just came back from a short trip to San Francisco. We visited many San Francisco landmarks and the tour guides often quipped the same refrain, “We learned our lesson after the quake.” Sometimes it was the 1906 earthquake; other...

My husband likes to tease me, claiming bad weather follows wherever I go. We traveled to Philadelphia, and for several days we experienced nothing but sunny, cloudless skies. The final day of our trip, we barely missed a rainstorm that...

A few weeks ago, Sinai Temple took Shabbat to the beach. We prayed in front of the Pacific, overwhelmed by the beauty and awe of God’s creation. I remember wondering what the children of Israel thought as they stood before...

This “Bisl” is being featured in the Jewish Journal: I stood in front of a mirror with three of my college girlfriends. The mirror was inscribed with the following: You are beautiful inside and out. The four of us get...

There is a story about the Baal Shem Tov and his obsession with light. His disciples knew how much he loved a bright room and so, in his presence, they tried to fill every room with candles. But one day,...