Parshat Ki Tavo: Heads and TailsDeuteronomy 28:44 ה֣וּא יַלְוְךָ֔ וְאַתָּ֖ה לֹ֣א תַלְוֶ֑נּוּ ה֚וּא יִהְיֶ֣ה לְרֹ֔אשׁ וְאַתָּ֖ה תִּֽהְיֶ֥ה לְזָנָֽב׃ “He [your foe] shall be your creditor, but you shall not be his; he shall be the head and you the tail.” The Torah appears to say that it is always better to lead than to follow. The assumption is that being…
Parshat Ki Teitzei: GroundedDeuteronomy 23:14 וְיָתֵ֛ד תִּהְיֶ֥ה לְךָ֖ עַל־אֲזֵנֶ֑ךָ וְהָיָה֙ בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ֣ ח֔וּץ וְחָפַרְתָּ֣ה בָ֔הּ וְשַׁבְתָּ֖ וְכִסִּ֥יתָ אֶת־צֵאָתֶֽךָ׃ “You shall have a spike in addition to your gear, and it will be that when you sit outside, you shall dig with it; you shall cover up your excrement” First, let’s applaud the Rabbi’s courage for choosing the verse that refers to…
Parshat Shoftim: The Warrior’s ArmorDeuteronomy 20:1 כִּֽי־תֵצֵ֨א לַמִּלְחָמָ֜ה עַל־אֹיְבֶ֗ךָ וְֽרָאִ֜יתָ ס֤וּס וָרֶ֙כֶב֙ עַ֚ם רַ֣ב מִמְּךָ֔ לֹ֥א תִירָ֖א מֵהֶ֑ם כִּֽי־יְהֹוָ֤ה אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ עִמָּ֔ךְ הַמַּֽעַלְךָ֖ מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃ “When you take the field against your enemies, and see horses and chariots – forces larger than yours – have no fear of them, for the Lord your God is with you, the one who brought…
Abraham, BZ, and B7 After traveling from his home far to the East, and after walking the entire length of the land of Canaan, Abraham finally settles by a well in the Judean desert. The descendants of Abraham live today in this same place, and it still carries the same name Be’er Sheva. Today, B7 (that’s how the hip Israelis…
Salty, Sweet, Bitter, and Savory The Haggadah is filled with the number four. Four cups of wine, four questions, four children. The fours are rooted in classical midrashic interpretations of the verses in the Torah that tell of the Exodus, as well as the inevitable questions that each generation of Jewish children have asked at the Passover seder: Why is…
If you want to be able to confront evil face to face, you must train your body to be strong, flexible and deadly. Evil confronts us physically with violence, threats and even lethal force. Rarely can such a threat be reasoned away. You can be prepared and capable of equal force, or you can run, or you will be a…
Everyone starts in the same place. In Taekwondo (and other Black Belt martial arts), everyone begins their learning as a white belt. Age, gender, size, and physical ability…none of these things matter. No matter who you are, where you come from, or what your profession, you start out in the back row, as a white belt. If you are not…
Dear Friend, In our solar system, the sun is in the center and our Earth travels in orbit around the sun. Each year is a single rotation of our planet around our anchoring star. As it travels through its orbit, our planet also spins regularly around its own axis; each rotation equaling one day. And not each daily rotation is…
New Interim Rabbi Creates Sacred Spaces Through Virtual Platforms Not every rabbi can break boards with their bare hands or hit the bullseye at 25 yards. But Rabbi Hillel Norry is not your typical rabbi. As both a black belt in Tae Kwon Do (3rd Dan), and a certified firearms instructor, Rabbi Norry advocates self-defense training and teaches about the…
A Shabbat Deficiency When I was in middle school, I learned about the various explorers and adventurers who crossed the oceans to discover what they considered the new world. Like most students, I was shocked by the hardships and difficulties they endured and encountered as they set off beyond the horizon and made their way into uncharted territory. That was…