One of my favorite classes this (brief but intense) term has been a tutorial in psalms, which I'm taking with one fellow student, taught by Norman Shore. Each week he assigns us a few psalms to translate, and also some secondary material -- sometimes...

AFTERMATH (VAYERA) The oaks touch branches like a gaggle of old women taking comfort in fingers brushing as they stand and sway. A man sits in the entrance of his tent. Heat shimmers though beneath the trees if he holds still, it's not so...

A few weeks ago I participated in a rabbinic conference call with Judge Goldstone, of the Goldstone Report, and shared a transcript of that call along with some reflections here on this blog (A conference call with Judge Goldstone.) That post got...

Pregnancy, 36 weeks. (I'm not quite there, but I'm close.) I haven't written much at Velveteen Rabbi about being pregnant, aside from that initial announcement post this summer and a handful of offhand mentions this fall. Those of you who don't...

Part 2 of a series of blog posts arising out of final reflections on the class Moadim l'Simcha, "Seasons of Our Rejoicing," which I recently completed. Part 1 can be found here. It might be argued that the spiritual year is the “spiritual...