Click to view the May-June 2016 issue of Neveh Shalom’s Chronicle
Big transitions leave you changed forever. Sometimes they leave you feeling as if it would be impossible for life to continue the way it had before. For me, I can pinpoint two such transitions: one was the death of my father, and the other was birth of our daughter. When my father died almost nine years ago, my entire world stopped.
The Shabbat that precedes Passover is known as Shabbat HaGadol, the Great Shabbat. Different explanations have been given for that name over the years--often a sign that we no longer possess the original reason. Regardless of this uncertain history, I am pleased to say that this weekend, the name is quite fitting as we have a number of remarkable events rolled into our Saturday morning service.
Next time your kid resists cleaning up her room, tell her the Torah says so. Because this too is Torah.
Transitions are emotional for me. I get weepy watching kids get on the camp bus for their first summer, knowing that they will return forever changed. I celebrate a pre-K graduation in the same way as I celebrate a high school graduation.
Over the last number of weeks, both in my weekly column and in our Passover Guide, we've included links to some halakhic legal decisions that permit Ashkenazic Jews to eat kitniot on Pesach. While those decisions are quite informative, they also vary in complexity.
As a parent, I can describe bath time in one word: Arrrrrgggghhhh! But as we learn in parshat Tazria, this too is Torah.
