It was 1998, and I was working for Rabbi Alan Lew in San Francisco shortly before beginning rabbinical school. Congregation Beth Sholom, where he served, was an urban synagogue. This meant that an unusual coterie of individuals would knock on the doors seeking a meal, a conversation, or sometimes something more.
The double Torah portion of Acharei Mot–Kedoshim offers one of the most profound—and countercultural—statements of moral purpose in Jewish tradition. Kedoshim tihyu, "You shall be holy," is not presented as a private aspiration but as a collective call to infuse daily life with sanctity. What follows are not primarily abstract mystical precepts or ritual instructions but rigorous interpersonal commandments: care for the poor, honesty in business, respect for elders, and just courts.
In Pirkei Avot, a book of maxims in the Mishnah, an ancient rabbi, Ben Bag-Bag said about Torah study, “Hafokh bah, va’Hafokh vah, d’khola bah.” Turn it over and over, for everything is in it. For two thousand years, that’s what Jews have done. Here is another turning.
In Pirkei Avot, a book of maxims in the Mishnah, an ancient rabbi, Ben Bag-Bag said about Torah study, “Hafokh bah, va’Hafokh vah, d’khola bah.” Turn it over and over, for everything is in it. For two thousand years, that’s what Jews have done. Here is another turning.
Although the central themes of Passover are freedom, redemption, and the covenant between God and the Jewish people, other ideas always filter in. The intense level of preparation for the holiday invites us to reflect on what needs to be saved—and what can be let go.
In Pirkei Avot, a book of maxims in the Mishnah, an ancient rabbi, Ben Bag-Bag said about Torah study, “Hafokh bah, va’Hafokh vah, d’khola bah.” Turn it over and over, for everything is in it. For two thousand years, that’s what Jews have done. Here is another turning.
In Pirkei Avot, a book of maxims in the Mishnah, an ancient rabbi, Ben Bag-Bag said about Torah study, “Hafokh bah, va’Hafokh vah, d’khola bah.” Turn it over and over, for everything is in it. For two thousand years, that’s what Jews have done. Here is another turning.
