Living Room Shabbat

Laura’s and my years in Los Angeles and Israel were formative in so many ways. One of the opportunities we were afforded was the ability to visit and pray with countless Jewish communities on Shabbat.

The Challenges of Success

Success has its challenges. Managing the growing pains that accompany it is one of the most obvious of those tasks. On the regional level, Portland’s success as an urban center has put tremendous pressure on our transportation system, housing costs and therefore our homelessness crisis. Our ability to continue to grow will depend on how we alleviate those bottlenecks and better provide for those essential resources.

Acharei Mot-Kedoshim: Building a Moral Society

Synagogues around the world will be reading from chapters 16-20 in the book of Leviticus. This section of scripture is divided into two parshiot, named Acharei Mot and K’doshim. Acharei Mot contains the source material for the Yom Kippur ritual of atonement. It concludes with laws of modesty and outlines those intimate relations from which a person must refrain. Most people would accept these restrictions as being moral and proper. Indeed, many of us even feel a sense of disgust considering these cases.