Author: Joanna Gammel

Long ago, the Biblical poet Kohelet stared life in the eyes and declared at the start of his book: הֲבֵל הֲבָלִים הַכֹּל הָבֶל Haveil havalim, ha-col havel… Futility of futilities, all is futile Kohelet was an existentialist before existentialism. Encouraging, isn’t he?! You could also translate it more spiritually and “Eastern” as “Emptiness of emptiness,…

Rabbi Michael and Torah from Sinai are both on vacation this week. Torah from Sinai will return on Friday, August 28th!

Shalom Chaverim, I’ve shared this before, but it seems appropriate these days: Do you think our local, national, and global politics can get “ugly”?! Check this out: Last week, Moses’ leadership was threatened by Korach’s rebellion. There were accusations on all sides of demagoguery, corruption, incompetence, megalomania… In the end, the earth opened up and…

The Festival of Shavuot begins Thursday evening and continues through this Shabbat. This holiday is one of the Shalosh Regalim, one of the three main pilgrimage festivals during which, in ancient times, our ancestors would walk up the mountains to Jerusalem. Shavuot comes at the end of the seven-times-seven (a “week of weeks”) cycle of…

It is customary to study a chapter of Pirke Avot – the Wisdom of our Fathers – each week during the weeks between Passover and Shavuot. Let’s do that for these remaining weeks. There are two shabbatot remaining before Shavuot, so let’s explore a teaching from chapter 2 this week. The Jewish calendar, fittingly, is…

We begin a new book of the Torah this week, Vayikra. What this Torah portion is all about – and indeed, much of what the entire book of Vayikra (also known as Leviticus or as the instruction guide for priests, Torat Kohanim) is all about – is details: details about which ancient sacrifice to perform…

It is interesting to note that our tradition is to sing the entire Torah, one weekly portion at a time throughout the entire year. In other words, the Torah is a song as much as it is a text, perhaps more of a song than a text. Although there are several ‘melodies’ for chanting the…

The case could be made that the idea of slavery in Egypt begins in this week’s parashah, Vayigash, with the famine and Joseph’s ability to exploit the people’s hunger to enrich the Pharoah. Don’t feel bad: If it was not Joseph, it would have been someone else. Once the people had given all their money,…

Shalom Chaverim, There was an event going on down the block from my house recently. On the sidewalk was a laughing toddler trying to chase after her granddad without falling down. She was laughing because her granddad was doing his best to clown her – spinning a ball on his finger, calling her name in…

The “highlight” of this week’s Torah portion, Nasso, is something you are all familiar with: The Birkat Kohanim, the priestly blessing of the people of Israel. You know the one [from Numbers 6:24-26]… May the Eternal bless you and protect you; May the Eternal’s Face give light unto you and show you favor; May the…