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Divine Name – Erev Rosh Hashanah Teaching 5776/2015

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Jewish tradition identifies four categories of being that make up our world.  First we consider the inanimate, mineral realm such as stones; they are called “domem – the silent ones.”  Then we consider the plants; they are called “tsomeyach – the sprouting ones.”  Then we consider the animals; they are called “chai – the living ones.”  And then we get to humans, and what are we called?  “M’daber – the talkative ones.”

Shabbat Shira 2014

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This special Shabbat is named Shabbat Shira, the Sabbath of song, because tomorrow our Torah reading describes the mythic parting of the sea that allows the Israelites to pass through and escape their pursuers.  This is recounted in a poetic passage called Shirat haYam, the Song of the Sea. The haftarah, the prophetic reading tomorrow is from the Shirat Devorah, Song of Deborah found in the Book of Judges. Both Biblical songs are odes of triumph, similar in style and content to poetry of ancient Mesopotamia and the Ugarit culture that flourished in what is now western Syria.

On Fall, Baseball, and the Sweet Earth – October 2013

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After a summer of simchas and a festive fall, we move into the deep, darkness of winter and Chanukah nights.  I’m writing this note at my brother’s home in southern Vermont where I’ve been communing with my childhood chickadees, birch and maples, watching the season turn in a blaze of red, orange and yellow foliage.  Now the days are chilly and the trees are shedding their leaves.

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