by Rabbi Misha

Thank God, it appears that we have made it through this war. With the help of the hidden forces of the universe we will likely live to see some of the hostages come home, the IDF withdraw from most of Gaza, and some type of sanity and safety return to the land of our ancestors.

by Rabbi Misha

I remember one of the first times I was aware of the love I had toward a friend. I was fifteen, and whenever I could I’d go out to Mevaseret, outside of Jerusalem to my friend, Erez’s house overlooking the wadi.

by Rabbi Misha

In Chaim Potok’s The Chosen, which Ezzy was assigned to read over break for his Hebrew school class, Reuven, the main character receives from his father a history of Hassidism.

by Rabbi Misha

The real story of resistance of this period in the Jewish calendar comes not from the Maccabees, but from the Parashah that accompanies the first few days of Hanukkah.

by Rabbi Misha

“I often think about our ancestors in Europe who would get pulled out of their homes in the middle of the night, or attacked in the streets of Germany, and imagine how different they would have felt if there were a non-Jew standing with them to protect them,” said Rabbi Arik Ascherman on Sunday morning.

by Rabbi Misha

This week we concluded our deep and illuminating communal study of Diaspora, led by our philosopher in residence, Dr. David Ponet, in which we read texts by Jean Amery, George Steiner, Edward Said and Hannah Arendt.

by Rabbi Misha

On Tuesday we brought Adam’s mother, Barbara to burial. Barbara was an extraordinary woman who lived fully and richly for 95 years. Though she traveled the globe once she was retired, reaching all seven continents, her home was always New York City.

by Rabbi Misha

Remember that tender moment in the Torah when Lot’s wife is turned into a pillar of salt? I’ve been thinking about it this week.  

by Rabbi Misha

Tuesday night at 11pm a Talmudic phrase flashed through my brain: 

בִּשְׁעַת הַמַּכְנִיסִין — פַּזֵּר. בִּשְׁעַת הַמְפַזְּרִים — כַּנֵּס. 

by Rabbi Misha

The world has gone mad. Human beings have abandoned morality. One person alone remains righteous and blameless. This person will save us from extinction. 

by Rabbi Misha

I’ve been spending a lot of time with my brother, Tari, a Buddhism scholar from a mountain village near Jerusalem, whose been here for the last few weeks.

by Rabbi Misha

It’s like some kind of ancient spell. You say certain words, throw some ingredients into water, wear certain clothes and put your fist to your chest.

by Rabbi Misha

This week I’ve been getting excited. Yes, the world rages on. The stupidity knows no bounds. One of the worst leaders we’ve known is speaking at the UN as I write.

by Rabbi Misha

When you go to the theater there is one moment you can always count on to be beautiful, and that’s when the house lights go down on the crowd and the play is about to begin.

by Rabbi Misha

After ten days of probing, difficult questions, this morning’s Soul Math challenge quite literally cut to the chase. Excellent Jew that he was, Ibn Paquda offers an answer to the question of our purpose - in the form of another question: How much time are you wasting? 

by Rabbi Misha

In a famous exchange between Gershom Scholem and Hannah Arendt following the publication of The Banality of Evil, Scholem accused Arendt of having no love for the Jewish people.

by Rabbi Misha

If you don't follow us already, HERE's how you can do it!

by Rabbi Misha

a timeless poem

by Rabbi Misha

For a couple of weeks I couldn’t get this one Hasidic niggun out of my head...

by Rabbi Misha

For a couple of weeks I couldn’t get this one Hasidic niggun out of my head...