Category Archives: Uncategorized

Walking in Haifa of my childhood, less than a mile from where I grew up, sometimes I meet myself coming and going. Yesterday she was sitting at a bus stop, chatting with friends in her school’s uniform, ponytail bouncing as … Continue reading →

One month in Israel, not even close to scraping the surface of this old-new seashell. There are moments that I’m not sure what I was thinking, and there are moment that I can’t believe I’ve waited so long to be … Continue reading →

Evening walk on this Haifa street: red-roofed, multi-family homes on left, woodsy forest of pines and oaks on the right, and a movement in the thicket. A person? Too wide. A cat or dog? Too big. But there is movement. … Continue reading →

The tension between hearing, listening and seeing, looking are emphasized in the Book of Deuteronomy, especially in this week and last week’s reading. First, “our manta”: Shma! שמע Listen! Then, this week  – Re’e! ראה. Listening is considered more internal; … Continue reading →

The Hebrew name of each one of the five books of the Torah has to do with speech, but each one of the first four describes only partial speech. Then comes “Dvarim” – Deuteronomy – and opens by saying, “And … Continue reading →

My Kulanu fellowship in this Eastern India emerging community”, has settled into sort of a routine: 7:00am – 8:00am – introduction to Gemara; 9:00am – Hebrew; 10:30am – Jewish history and Land of Israel. Lunch and short break before another … Continue reading →

My Indian “mother”, half my age and twice as determined as me, stands over me with a spoonful of rice: “just a little more”, she says, almost begs, her eyes on me as I struggle with the never-ending heap of … Continue reading →

So this is what happened: Due to the mysteries of the calendar, I am not going to read the Torah portion of Korach this year. If you fly between Israel and Chutz-La’aretz (not Israel) between Pesach and the week of … Continue reading →