Facing our Body Image

As a result of circumcision Abraham’s body would become perfect.  With the foreskin remaining he was not perfect physically.  Once the foreskin was circumcised his body would be perfect, it would be unblemished.
 As I was driving to the grocery store a couple of days ago I listened to the above words of a recorded shiur on [...]

A Serious Distribution Error

After taking a two week vacation between Yom Kippur and Shemini Atzeret I returned to work at the hospital to find that one of the patients I was assigned to had an active case of swine flu.  In the interceding two weeks time, not only have I taken care of a swine flu patient, I [...]

Burden of Proof

A couple of weeks ago I had opportunity to attend the Bat Mitzvah of a friend’s daughter.  The event was held on Shabbat/Shemini Atzeret at a local Reform Synagogue. Part of the Shabbat worship/Bat Mitzvah ceremony included the calling forth of pre-selected individuals to open and close the doors of the Aron (ark) where the [...]

Torah as a Song of Unity and Tension

“The Torah is G-d’s libretto, and we, the Jewish people, are His choir, the performers of His choral symphony. And though, when Jews speak they often argue, when they sing, they sing in harmony, as the Israelites did at the Red Sea, because music is the language of the soul, and at the level of [...]

Role Confusion and Commandment 612

Over the past few weeks the topic of role confusion and role appropriateness has inundated my thinking, due to the recent Divine Invitation theological shift announced by First Fruits of Zion.  I, like many others, have been challenged to consider what role among G-d’s people as a Gentile believer I am really suited for.  I [...]

Something Missing

With only two more weeks remaining in the month of Elul I have taken some time to read about the topic of repentance based on various rabbinic sources.  This endeavor has proved to be a bit frustrating, for there are numerous opinions and methods regarding repentance presented by various authors and commentators.  Each method is [...]

Up On the Roof

Many years ago I had opportunity to travel with some friends to Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  An essential part of touring the city included a trip to the famous CN Tower, which at the time was the tallest freestanding structure in the world.  After enjoying dinner and spectacular views from the revolving 360 Restaurant atop the [...]

The Realities of War

In celebrating my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary recently I had the delightful opportunity to “walk down memory lane” through a PowerPoint presentation that my sister had prepared for the occasion.  Among the many photographs chronicling my parent’s upbringing, courtship, marriage, and family life were a couple of photos of my father in full army uniform. [...]

The Test of a False Prophet

During the three weeks between 17th Tammuz and Tisha b’Av this year I decided to consider the synoptic accounts of Yeshua’s prophecy surrounding the destruction of the second Temple and the end of the age.  Taking Matthew 24:6-25:13, Mark 13:1-37, and Luke 21:5-36 divided into 21 short readings.  Interestingly, of the eleven occurrences of the [...]

A Woman’s Prayer for Tisha b’Av

One of the books I have read over the past month is Seyder Tkhines (The Forgotten Book of Common Prayer for Jewish Women) by Devra Kay. The Seyder Tkhines is the first known standard book of prescribed vernacular prayers for women originally printed in Yiddish in the year 1648, and incorporated into numerous Ashkenazic synagogue [...]