by Rabbi Misha

The night I was born, my parents, young North American Jews who had made Aliyah less than a decade earlier, walked to the Western Wall.

by Rabbi Misha

The night I was born, my parents, young North American Jews who had made Aliyah less than a decade earlier, walked to the Western Wall.

by Rabbi Misha

The night I was born, my parents, young North American Jews who had made Aliyah less than a decade earlier, walked to the Western Wall.

by Rabbi Misha

The month of Elul began on Sunday, inviting us to take stock of our lives, the year that past and the present moment. As always, each of us has a lot to think about personally, where we’ve strayed, where we’ve gone wrong, where we want to improve and where we can return to ourselves.

by Rabbi Misha

A friend told me this week that he walks 12,000 steps every day. I don't walk around with my phone on me much of the time so I have no idea how many steps I take. But since I was curious, I started counting my steps.

by Rabbi Misha

Ten days ago I was talking with Shai and Monica, two fellow New Shuler Israelis living in New York. Naturally, we got to talking politics. But I noticed that it was primarily a conversation between Monica and me.

by Rabbi Misha

I once asked Erika’s teacher, Ray Deal, a traditional medicine man from the Navajo nation whether his tradition has a Sabbath. “We don’t differentiate,” he answered, “all days are sacred.” I remembered this conversation this morning when I woke up with the phrase “the sacred-everyday.”  

by Rabbi Misha

There is only one person I’ve ever met who could quite literally make a room full of people fly. I understand your skepticism. I had it too once. It vanished one Monday afternoon in the early 2010’s in a yoga studio in Chelsea, when I saw Rabbi Burt Siegel do it.

by Rabbi Misha

This week we lost my dear friend and teacher Rabbi Burt Siegel. As I've been collecting my thoughts to share with you about Rabbi Burt, I’ve been reminded several times of another great teacher, the wonderful Rabbi Laurie Phillips z”l, who ran Beineinu with Daphna until she passed at age 55 in 2023.

by Rabbi Misha

The ancient port of Jaffa is alive

by Rabbi Misha

It took some serious manuevering, many hours spent on internet travel websites, days of worry and stress and a bucket of luck or divine support, but I landed in Ben Gurion airport a few days ago. I write to you from what was my early childhood bedroom and is now my father's study, with the familiar view of olive trees, bougainvilleas and houses built from old Jerusalem stone.

by Rabbi Misha

This Is What You Shall Do, from the Walt Whitman's preface to Leaves of Grass.

by Rabbi Misha

This week made me reflect on the all-to-human experience of feeling unseen.

by Rabbi Misha

Before I start, let me wish all of your loved ones in countries at war safety. We have in our community people with family in both Israel and Iran, and we wish them all well in this scary moment.