Sort by Category
One Small Step
by Rabbi Misha
Ezra Klein’s wonderful interview with Judith Shulevitz about her book The Sabbath World, which I suspect many of you have listened to (and if you haven’t you should) reminded me of a task I had promised myself to complete a few years ago and never did.
Living With The Hidden
by Rabbi Misha
יושב בסתר עליון בצל שדי יתלונן
The highest sits in hiding,
resting in the shade of the Goddess.
The Menorah
by Rabbi Misha
The way we tell the Hanukkah story has the power to shape how the next generation will think about Judaism. It’s been told in many different ways, with the emphasis changing from one generation to the next to fit the political needs, philosophical spirit and general zeitgeist of the times.
Healthy Insanity
by Rabbi Misha
“We have to learn to speak Jewish,” said the activist rabbi.
The Core of Jazz and Prayer
by Rabbi Misha
The Miles Davis Quintet playing All Blues, which we're going to hear this evening to the words of the Friday evening Psalm, "Shiru L'Adonai Shir Chadash."
Living in the Entrance
by Rabbi Misha
Two years ago, a guest at our Shabbat service from Women for Afghan Women, Nilab Nusrat shared with us memories of how back in Afghanistan, her father used to invite poor people into their home for dinner.
Meet Ben Gvir
by Rabbi Misha
I try to avoid electoral politics in my writing. I’m not a political authority of any type. But this week’s election in Israel carries both cultural and spiritual messages that are relevant to American Jews, and offer lessons for Americans in general.
Words, Reeds and Slipping Tongues
by Rabbi Misha
There are those moments in which the words slip out. You didn't mean to say what you said but had every intention of saying it differently.
Good? Good!
by Rabbi Misha
If you were a biblical translator but your Hebrew was hit or miss you might translate the sixth and seventh verses of the Torah as follows:
Music, Art, Goodness!
by Rabbi Misha
The last shabbat of the year gives us an opportunity to imagine the goodness we invite in the new year.
Open That Window
by Rabbi Misha
Like a switch that’s been clicked, the season of opening windows has arrived in New York. The heat isn’t bouncing off the sidewalks, the AC is relaxing, the sweet disruption of summer abates.
The Foodie Challenge
by Rabbi Misha
It’s all about food at the end of the day. All the big concepts, the word of God, four thousand years of history, Holocausts and survival, all of it boils down to what we eat or don’t eat.
Two Musical Greats and a Prophet
by Rabbi Misha
In 1951, the iconic composer John Cage famously visited the anechoic chamber at Harvard University.
Before I Came to Be
by Rabbi Misha
The last weeks of summer are a primordial state of mind. Summer has happened. The year is over, but the next one has yet to begin. We yawn our way through the yawn-like days waiting to be reborn, thrown back into the world.