Sometimes our dreams can wake us up to our truest feelings, feelings we might be fearful to address in the waking world. Perhaps there’s a change we’re scared of making, but our dreams, which are out of our control, can present things in a new light.
“We should honor and make the Torah beautiful and have reverence for it and honor it, according to our ability.” Shulkhan Arukh. On two separate occasions over the last few months, a Torah scroll in our community has fallen to the ground. In both cases, the people involved have tremendous love and respect for the Torah.
I’ve been behind the times and hadn’t realized that a new American ritualized holiday had come into existence. Apparently, “Friendsgiving” has been gaining momentum over the past number of years.
The easiest part of parenting is love. The hardest part of parenting is tough love. There are countless choices and decisions we make as parents, and plenty of times we’re left wondering whether or not we’ve made the right choice.
In this week’s Torah portion, “Chayei Sarah,” we learn of the death of our matriarch Sarah, Abraham’s efforts to secure a permanent burial spot for her, and his desire to find a suitable wife for his middle-aged bachelor son, Isaac.
As people get older, it's common to hear the reassurance that "age is just a number" or "you get better with age" as if age is something we're automatically supposed to fight against. But the reality, as Abraham shows us, is that with age comes experience.
When God hears Hagar's distress call, God answers by "opening her eyes." How often in life are we paralyzed by the sheer magnitude of what might need to be done? How often do we perceive ourselves as stuck somewhere, even if the answer is in front of us?
