The Death of Aaron, c. 1896-1902, by James Jacques Joseph Tissot (French, 1836-1902) or a follower I’m delighted to have contributed this week’s teaching to Bayit’s Builders Blog series that explores Torah through a lens of building and civic responsibility. Reading this week’s Torah portion, I found myself captivated by Numbers, Chapter 20. In my … Read more
I’m delighted to have contributed to Bayit’s Builders Blog this week. The piece tells the story of the creation of “The Colors of Earthlight: A Reflection for Earth Day 2023/Rosh Hodesh Iyyar,” a resource that was co-created and distributed by members of the Advisory Board of the Jewish Climate Action Network of Georgia (JCAN-GA). I … Read more
One Hebrew expression for the publication of a book is l’hotzee l’or, literally, “to bring it to light,” although most speakers of modern Hebrew would use the word l’farsem. This Hebrew word also means to publicize, and it may have come into modern Hebrew by way of the Aramaic expression pirsuma neisa, to publicize the … Read more
You’ve probably heard the adage that elementary school teachers love children, high school teachers love their subject, and university professors love themselves. I suppose there’s a kernel of truth to this, but I’m going to push back a bit and suggest that it’s even more important for high school and university teachers to love our … Read more
Bayit’s Builders Blog includes a weekly series that explores Torah through a lens of building and civic responsibility. I’m delighted to have contributed this week’s teaching about Jewish burial customs and how they both overlap with and diverge from the customs of Green burial. The illustration was created by Steve Silbert, who is a member … Read more
How long does it take to return? That depends… It’s been almost forty days since I set my sights on teshuvah. Even before the first of the month of Elul, when we begin sounding the shofar to awaken us to return, I’ve been preparing for the final shofar blast at the conclusion of Yom Kippur, … Read more
I’m guest blogging this week for two of my favorite Jewish homes, and I invite you to visit them: On Bayit Builders Blog you’ll find Magnifying Beauty: Tiferet and #ColorTheOmer which contains photographs and video artist statements of my four students’ work, as well as a link to my Artist Statement. Bayit’s Builders Blog is … Read more
What a busy week! After an extended Spring Break, we returned to school on Monday, nine days into the seven weeks between Passover and Shavuot. During this period in the Jewish calendar, some Jews adopt the spiritual practice of Sefirat Ha-Omer, the counting of the days and weeks in anticipation of the upcoming festival. This … Read more