TONIGHT IS SHAVUOT, WHICH CELEBRATES the gift of Torah at Mt. Sinai some 3,322 years ago. Whether one believes the Torah’s own account is inconsequential; what we celebrate is the living text (rather, Living Text) itself and its indivisibility from…
Tag: Being Jewishly
Living Judaism with heart, soul, and all we have.
Torah: Learn A Little!
REMEMBER THE SATURDAY MORNING TORAH study Ann started back in 2001? Well, we’re still doing it, and if you’d like to do it too — and you’re going to be in Sonoma between 10 a.m. and noon tomorrow — you…
Torah Word: Kedoshim
Torah Portion: Acharei Mot-Kedoshim Leviticus 16:1-20:27 Haftorah: Amos 9:7-15 “Kedoshim t’hyu, ki kadosh ani Adonai Eloheicha — Be holy, for I am holy, Adonai your God.” (Leviticus 19:2) The second half of this week’s double portion takes a breather from…
Talmidei Torah Considered As The Great Motorcycle Dialectic
(sans apology to and/or connection with Messrs. Jarry et Ballard) THERE ARE THE HARLEY RIDERS. They would not dream of owning any transportation they couldn’t twiddle with or hack. Every knob, every switch, every gear is known and its connection…
Minute Mitzvah: Mind That Credenza
And now, it’s time for another Monday Mitzvah. Today: Safeguard your home from accidents. IN ITS SIMPLE VERSION, THIS mitzvah calls for a roof-edge parapet to keep people from falling off. As those living outside a Mediterranean building-climate likely have…
Minute Mitzvah: Praise Wow
And now, another Monday Mitzvah with a side of motivation. Today: Hold God in awe. THIS ONE’S TRICKY FOR ATHEISTS, so in the interests of universality, let’s assume we’re not talking about the Cranky Old Man raining smites and frights…
Minute Mitzvah: Free At Last
FOR THOSE INTERESTED, WE AT Metaphorager.Net present another Monday Mitzvah (and its backstory). Today: Tell the Exodus story on Passover. “Remember that you were slaves in the Land of Egypt” is Torah’s most-repeated commandment. But if we get hung up…
Minute Mitzvah: You Are How You Eat
TUESDAY’S NOT TOO LATE FOR a Monday Mitzvah, unless you’d rather read something else. Today: Don’t eat what’s not kosher (literally, “proper, fit”). Let’s correct two misconceptions: 1. Kosher is hygenic. 2. Kosher is rational. The basic rules from Leviticus…
Minute Mitzvah: Watch Your Tongue
It’s Monday Mitzvah! If you’re not hip to Jewish ethnospirituality, feel free to pass. Today: Don’t oppress anyone with words. Like many of the mannerly mitzvot, this one seems easy — until you begin to ponder the meaning of “oppress.”…
Minute Mitzvah: Divine Assumption
And now, another Monday Mitzvah! If you’re not hip to things eth(n)ospiritual, feel free to skip. Today: Know, if even arguendo, that God is. TO A THEIST, THE IDEA of a Universe without God is a no-brainer; to an atheist,…
Minute Mitzvah: Take Saturday Off
Welcome to another Monday Mitzvah! If you’re not hip to things eth(n)ospiritual, feel free to skip this post. Today: Rest on Shabbat. For most of the past 166,400-odd weeks, Jews have celebrated Shabbat as part of the fabric of Creation.…
Live Long and Kosh — er, Prosper
IT’S NOT ALWAYS NEWS WHEN a rabbi writes a book — but when he writes about Vulcans, Ferengi and Klingons, it’s bound to raise at least one fascinated eyebrow (I’m looking at you, Spock). Rabbi Yonassan Gershom‘s Jewish Themes In…