The Ba’al Shem Tov on Creating Space for Something New Can a person really change? Think, feel, act differently? Yes, says the…
The Story We Live
Two Distinct Stories about What it Means to Be Jewish Hidden Inside Five Verses of Torah To be Jewish is…
Coming Home to a Cosmic Wedding
The mystical meaning of Kabbalat Shabbat The first sentence invites you to an ecstatic musical celebration in Vancouver…the rest invites…
A 360° Overview of Life
The simple things are not so simple I just returned from the Chavaya Festival—a Jewish Renewal music festival in the Pacific…
Aleph: Breath Before Breath
Aleph Before any sound AlephBreath before breatha pausebefore the first letterof creation Not silencebut living stillnessfrom which every songis born…
Feel the Fear
Fear is inevitable. What comes next is not. Our sages know this. Content warning: kings, scorpions, and other terrors—but with…
What My Mother Knew
Isaiah’s Long View of Comfort Today is Shabbat Nachamu, the Shabbat of Comfort. We read one of Isaiah’s most beautiful…
The Vision Before the Fall
What the prophets teach about division—and reconciliation Photograph by Laura Duhan-Kaplan Today is Shabbat Chazon, the Shabbat of Vision, the…
The Face of God is Peace
Bamidbar and the Temptation of Holy War On Mt. Sinai God tells Moses: You cannot see My face (panai); you…