Honorable Mensch-ion

In a Philadelphia shopping mall this week, a large sign hanging from the ceiling read, “Seeing is believing.” Today, driving through Lancaster, Pennsylvania I noticed church after church with membership advertisements One read, “God knows you…but do you know God?” I could not help but think of the first word of our parsha, Reeh, meaning “See!” See the difference between the blessings and curses that God puts before us. The Talmud teaches that hearing is not comparable to seeing. We cognitively comprehend the difference between hearing and seeing. When we watch the news from afar and see a tragedy afflict…

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The modern theologian Rabbi Neil Gilman once assigned our Rabbinical school class this task: Create your own God metaphor. We were required to ask the same question that we ask our own toddlers, “What does God look like to you?” The artists in the class drew a picture, and the poets composed poems. I came up with something different. With a passion for sports, I described God as a coach. When a team is winning, it is the coach who is in the shadows. The players often receive the credit for what happens on the court. Yet, when the chips…

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I paid a visit to an orthopedist this week after complaining too much that my foot hurt. I was certain that I had a sports injury. Surprisingly, the doctor gave me the all clear, but he also told me, “Rabbi you’re not twelve years old anymore.”

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It is hard to describe the feeling of welcoming in Shabbat. You must experience it in order to be able to describe it. That is because welcoming in Shabbat is not only a thought in our minds, but an action of our bodies and souls.

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