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.
Read More »What Is So Odd About Getting Even?
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.
Read More »Correct Sin-Tax
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.’
Read More »All Stars: Kids and Baseball
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.
Read More »The Road of Second Chances
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.
Read More »Craving Eternity
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.
Read More »Chariots of Fire
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?
Read More »In Humanity of The Wild West
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.
Read More »Far From Home-Less
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.
Read More »Never Be Lonely
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 …
Read More »What Makes “A Wonderful Life?”
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.
Read More »Pieces Into Peace
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.
Read More »A Price Tag on People?
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.
Read More »“Shtisel” – The Magic And The Mystery
Have you ever connected a baffling interest in a recent TV series to a prophetic Biblical verse? I have.
Read More »The Land Of Hearts
This Friday is Lag B’omer, a day of celebration for several reasons. So how does a good heart fit in to this picture?
Read More »A Muslim King Sooper-Man. No, Not That One.
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.
Read More »We Are Not Alone – Covid Pesach And Quantum Entanglement
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.
Read More »Soul Retrieval
‘You can’t choose the card you’re dealt, but you can choose to live every minute of it.’
Read More »The Queen’s Speech
Living in Boulder in these times, I have found two areas of interest besides covid, that stood out this November- One is the second year of Clean Speech Colorado, a program dedicated to teaching proper ways of talking. The second feature of this month is many of my friends’ fascination with the Netflix series, the Queen’s Gambit.
Read More »Hitting the Streets with My Sukkot Holiday Gear
What makes the Jewish holiday of Sukkot memorable for me is something I have loved to do ever since I first got my own set of the Four Kinds, the lulav and etrog set.
Read More »The Edges Of Illusion
I was the ninth winner in the Hassidic creative contest with this poem, among hundreds of submissions.
Read More »The Miracle Of Community
How can the saddest days of the year make someone happy?
Read More »The Space Between Us
This week’s parsha bears a striking echo to our current situation. It is the law of someone who got Tzaraat, a disease with physical symptoms of spiritual flaws that affected the person’s body, clothes, or even homes.
Read More »Home Alone – A Mystical Take On The Quarantine
This year’s Passover seders will be smaller than ever, but they may prepare us for the biggest event in history.
Read More »What Is The ‘Nu’ Normal?
We just finished reading the book of Exodus, and also the last of the special Torah readings before Passover. This reading, ‘the chapter of the NEW moon,’ begins with the mandate to declare the upcoming month of Nisan, as the first month in the Jewish calendar.
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