by Rabbi Misha

It is important to take a moment to look at what mindfulness is in the Buddhist tradition, so that we can then look for the similarities and differences with similar Jewish notions, and contemporary ideas. A talk with my brother, Tari (Eviatar), the incoming Chair of the Department of Religions at Hebrew University, about mindfulness.

by Rabbi Misha

A feeling of gratitude overwhelms the crowd. We survived. Tears begin to well. They hear the words of the Torah and all they can do is cry. Despite everything, there is love. After all, we are loved.

by Rabbi Misha

Matan’s Bar Mitzvah is coming up, so his grandfather is showing him a piece of his life; the landscapes of the South Hebron Hills, the villagers he’s been helping for years, the incredible people who show up in these circles, the work that he says allows him to continue living in this country.

by Rabbi Misha

It’s after midnight here in Jerusalem. Manu, my four-year-old just fell asleep. Ezzy, 8, just walked out of his room, “Can’t sleep.” Matan, 13 has a few more sudoku puzzles to finish before he can close his eyes. Today he napped five or six times, since last night he didn’t sleep more than an hour.

by Rabbi Misha

There are six Hebrew words that almost all Jews, no matter how rebellious, ignorant or God-hating know:
Sh’ma Yisrael Adonai Eloheynu Adonai Echad.

by Rabbi Misha

“Man is the playground for the unpredictable emergence and multiplication of needs.”

These words of Abraham Joshua Heschel echoed as I looked at my pile of laundry this morning and wondered at the tremendous amount of clothes I own. In the bible a set of clothes was one of a person’s most valuable possessions.

by Rabbi Misha

A year ago, a stranger gave me a gift I still carry in my pocket most days. On one side of the little wooden coin is written: It is not your duty to complete the work. On the other: But neither are you free to desist from it.

By Rabbi Misha

A couple weeks ago at his Bar Mitzvah, Henry asked us the following question: Do we owe God anything for passing over the firstborn of our ancestors on the night God killed the firstborn Egyptians.

by Rabbi Misha

How does one speak about the horrors of the world? How does a person choose the right words, the appropriate ideas, the voice that will express the totality of the situation, not just one small piece of it?

by Rabbi Misha

Torah is a thing of beauty, a piece of divinity, a crystalized gem of justice. It is also ugly, human and morally wrong. Accepting the Torah is accepting life itself with all its beauty, complexity and horror.

by Rabbi Misha

My nieces and nephews hear the sounds of rockets falling. My parents, walking or driving along, hear the alarms, and either rush into the entrance room of some building, or lie down on the ground with their heads covering their heads.

by Rabbi Misha

This week I share a piece of a longer paper I wrote a few years ago that tries to dig and find what lies beneath Kosher laws. Enjoy.

by Rabbi Misha

This week I share a piece of a longer paper I wrote a few years ago that tries to dig and find what lies beneath Kosher laws. Enjoy.

by Rabbi Misha

The Floyd family, and the events of this week have filled my mind with beautiful questions about the nature of prayer. I watched many different family members react to the verdict, and every one of them spoke about prayer.

by Rabbi Misha

Something extraordinary happened this week. 280,000 people gathered from across the universe, most of them from Israel and Palestine, to mourn those killed on both sides of the conflict. The joint Israeli Palestinian memorial ceremony is laying the ground for a different future.

by Rabbi Misha

This Sunday, as part of the Kumah Festival we will be commemorating Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, which takes place today. The event will search for a way to acknowledge and mourn the past while leading us toward a new, forward looking relationship with memory.

by Rabbi Misha

Tomorrow night we begin a seven-week journey that will attempt to lead us from doubt to acceptance, from possibility to actuality, from the Red Sea to Mount Sinai. We begin our Kumah Festival learning from the former black slaves of Morocco how to transform their Boulila, their chains, into Hamdulillah, praise, through music.

by Rabbi Misha

We have some live virtual theater coming our way tonight, so I’ll begin with a line from a play - PHARAOH: When you finally get this freedom, Moses, what are you going to do with it?

by Rabbi Misha

With Passover around the corner we hear the call of freedom. This week’s parasha, Vayikra begins with Moses hearing God’s call.

by Rabbi Misha

This week’s Parasha is perhaps the most New Shul of them all. Its hero is Bezalel Ben Uri, the artist who builds the Mishkan, the travelling desert temple.