A poem from Morah Yehudis.

Please don’t leave Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur without hangin’ out in a Sukkah. It would be like experiencing Passover but skipping Shavuot- i.e. going from ‘freedom from’ without going to ‘freedom for.’  

How do I know Judaism is still alive and well? More people go to synagogue for Kol NIdrei than any other time of the year- and there’s no food served for at least twenty four hours!

An obvious question this year is why, when the first day of RH comes out on Shabbat, don’t we blow the shofar?

Though dark clouds hover over our world this time of the year, the sages insist that filaments of secret light and divine connection are buried beneath the concealment. A recent Netflix series expresses this concept.

As graduation speeches and flying caps fill the air, we may wonder about the extent and duration of the influence that schools and individual teachers may have on students, both in knowledge and character. Rabbis in the past and present have given plenty of advice about how to teach.

The torment of psychological pain can make people insane, but blessed encounters lead to recovery lane.

“The only ones afraid of guns are those who have many gods and one world. Those who have one G-d and many worlds are not afraid.” This was the response of the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, when a prison guard tried to stop him from praying.

Could Pharaoh be Irish? As we read this last month’s Torah portions, about the ancient idiosyncratic behavior of an Egyptian despot, we think such personalities can’t happen in our world, in our times.  Well, a film with nine nominations for Oscar awards, admirably shows it can transpire in ordinary human behavior.

The 2022 Boulder Jewish Festival Film series, highlights several Holocaust related movies. One of the most prominent is "Plan A," the true story of attempted revenge on the Nazis by some Jewish groups. This article discusses some of the complex issues brought up by this film.

Teshuva is the Jewish way to pay our ‘sin taxes.’ Aveira is one of the Hebrew words for transgression. In my mind, it resonates with the English word, ‘over.’

Maybe it’s just me. I have such a soft spot for kids and baseball. So when I come across a true story behind this gripping combo of kids and baseball - I can watch those films over and over.

As we close the book of Numbers, which is really a book of counting or travels with forty-two stops for forty years, the very last portion is called Ma’asei which means journeys.

The Omer helps navigate the unknown terrain between Pesach and Shavuot, which is why it may be both an exciting and daunting time. We are meant to ascend, both temporally and inwardly, the space between being in Egypt and arriving at Mount Sinai.

Many of you know that the allusion of the title, Chariots of Fire, relate to Eliyahu HaNavi, Elijah the prophet, ascending to heaven in a chariot of fire, as he was leaving this world. So why the connection to this film?

Two startlingly different and divergent award winning Westerns, which are surprisingly similar in their motifs, come to my mind. Almost mirror opposites, these two films contain an analogous theme: A lone, rather uptight, cowboy, who is attracted to another man’s wife, and a boy who grows more and more attached to the cowboy.

As we complete the book of Exodus with the construction of the Holy Sanctuary, I can’t help thinking of the following quote from 2021’s Academy Award’s winning film, "Nomadland." “I may be houseless, but not homeless” was one of the opening phrases by the laconic but sensitive, Fern.

My first encounter with Chabad came about in 1960 when I was seventeen, and a friend invited me to a farbrengen where the Rebbe spoke. From that moment, I was totally smitten with the movement. It was a very cold winter day, and I remember feeling that although my body …

Many films of magical realism appear this time of year, across many cultures. One perennial favorite is Frank Capra’s ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ which first appeared when I was only three years old. I was determined to figure out why it became so popular and what could be a Torah connection.

We learn in Pirkei Avot, ‘Be like the students of Aaron: Love peace, and pursue peace’ There is so much good advice in this pithy saying.

The summer of 2001 my world changed. It was the year I moved to Boulder, Colorado. A few weeks later, 9/11 changed the world. That twenty-year memory became more vivid this September by watching a sterling performance by Michael Keaton as the lawyer Kenneth Feinberg who was in charge of allocating funds to the families of the victims.

Have you ever connected a baffling interest in a recent TV series to a prophetic Biblical verse? I have.

This Friday is Lag B’omer, a day of celebration for several reasons. So how does a good heart fit in to this picture?

And no, I am not complaining about this one. On the contrary, I hold him in the highest esteem. His name is Abdul, and he works at the 30th street King Soopers grocery.

What would you say is the highlight of the Passover Seder? The food, the Hagadah, the Seder plate? Let me share mine: I feel it is the moment the middle matzah is broken in two.