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Ki Tisa: I Can’t Make You Love Me if You Don’t

The moment I hear something familiar in a new way, I feel a charge that to me epitomizes what it means to be alive. The moment engages us in its call to consider.

I most recently experienced one of these moments listening to the radio in my car. I heard Bon Iver, a contemporary musical artist, sing his cover of the song I Can’t Make You Love Me, made famous originally by Bonnie Raitt. Within only a few seconds of listening everything in me rushed to attention, to appreciate the beauty of the music and to notice the moment when suddenly I’m making connections all over the place, when the many tracks of my life miraculously converge to travel the same path together for a while.

Terumah and Pete Seeger – Bringing God into this World

“This machine surrounds hate and forces it to surrender.”

These are the words that are etched into Pete Seeger’s banjo. Seeger, who passed away this week, wrote and lived those words throughout his life. Whether fighting the hate of racism, war or the destruction our natural world, Pete Seeger used his banjo and his voice to fight for justice throughout his life.

Bo: Expect Goodness

It is the week of resolutions. Are you off on the right foot? How did you strengthen yourself to approach your new beginnings with a full heart, with full intention, and the will to not look back?

I found inspiration for this new secular year in a different type of source this week. My daughter and I have been reading Anne of Green Gables together for months now and this week we finished the book. Continue reading

You and I Won’t Recognize Our Grandchildren

With this week’s Torah portion, the book of Genesis comes to an end. Both Jacob and Joseph, and the Egyptian rulers who knew them, pass away, setting up the story of slavery and Exodus coming in the next chapter of our story.

Joseph learns that Jacob’s death is near, and he goes to see his father, with his sons Ephraim and Menasseh. Jacob recounts to Joseph the promises God made to Jacob, and he informs Joseph that he is adopting Joseph’s sons, whom he mentions by name, so they will have a full portion of the inheritance Jacob leaves to his sons. Jacob is well aware that Joseph’s sons were born to Joseph and an Egyptian mother and that they are growing up in Egypt, yet he feels so strongly tied to them he claims them as his own. However, after saying all of this to Joseph, Jacob does not recognize his grandsons Ephraim and Menasseh, standing next to Joseph. He has to ask “Who are these?”

What’s A Jewish Comic Strip

Edge City Comics

Terry & Patty LaBan will talk about their comic strip, Edge City, on Sunday, December 15th from 10:15-11:15 AM at Rodeph Shalom
Edge City is a ground-breaking comic strip about a hip, Jewish-American family juggling relationships, careers, and tradition at the fast-pace of modern life. During our Sunday Seminar, Terry and Patty LaBan will talk about their characters, the history of their comic and how they create it. They will emphasize the Jewish content of the strip, their intent behind it, how to present it, and how it fits in the pop culture continuum. Edge City has been running in the Philadelphia Inquirer, as well as other papers, for 12 years.

Thanksgivukkah!

I imagine most of you have by now been forwarded some email about the convergence of Hanukkah and Thanksgiving this year. Yes, it is true that the first night of Hanukkah this year is the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving and it is also true that this will not happen again for another 79,000 years or so. This strange phenomenon has captivated many American Jews and non-Jews alike and brought many unaffiliated families out of the woodwork – perhaps because it reflects the intersection of our Jewish and American identities.

The Face of God

Who here has seen the musical Les Miserable? I still remember the first time I saw Les Mis – I remember my parents taking my to the Wang Center in Boston. It was amazing! The moving stage, the costumes, the music, the emotion – I was blown away.

As I was reading this weeks Torah portion, one song from Les Mis kept popping into my head. Picture the scene: Jean Valjean is on his deathbed. The curtain between the living and the dead has been raised and he is joined by Eponine and Fantine. And then his entire life is summed up in one of the most beautiful verses I have ever heard:

Click here to listen!

The final line that we just heard is actually a Victor Hugo original from the book, “To love another person is to see the face of God.”

HaDag Nachash, Here I Come!

If you’ve ever seen the Adam Sandler movie, Don’t Mess with the Zohan, you may be familiar with the band, HaDag Nachash. Their name which literally means Snake Fish, is a Hebrew spoonerism of the phrase Nachag Chadash, a new driver. Through mixing hip hop and rock, western and eastern music, HaDag Nachash bring to light some of the most important issues in Israel today. One song that particularly touches upon what it means to be in Israel is, “Hinei Ani Ba, Here I Come.” The song tells the tale of the dichotomy between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv: