Inclusion in the Parshah and Holidays

It is absurd to think that an ark the length of a football field-and-a-half can house the nearly million species of animals that roam the Earth.

When the car flips, or flames leap from a crumbling home, there are those ordinary people who do extraordinary things. What is the process?

Great blessings such as these do not come as the result of any particular ability we may have or lack.

Joseph’s famous multi-colored tunic is the unmistakable marker of his identity. It was the symbol of his prestige.

Every human being has incalculable worth; differences in ability are superimposed upon our innate humanity.

Moses warned the nation as they were on the cusp of entering the Land of Israel to never forget the true source of their wealth and achievement.

Bereft of the aura of the untouchable, Israel became vulnerable to external threats.

Every year, we celebrate Rosh Hashanah again. Because creation—and its interpretation—is a never ending process.

In order for the body of the Jewish people to function, individuals have to realize that each individual is part of the whole.

Why a circle dance? Why move in such a way that you don’t get any further than when you started?

The soul, and its innate bond with G‑d, is the only force powerful enough to extricate a Jew from the spiritual morass of Hellenistic Greece.

Stereotyping another person is similar to standing on a hillside at night.

Our lives are constricted and defined by many limitations. But our truest humanity is expressed by moving beyond these limitations, and actualizing our core identity, our soul.

It is exceedingly clear that the Seder table will be incomplete without the representation and participation of the entire spectrum of society.

But all that wonder has yet to materialize. Our world is still one with war, with poverty, malice, still a world in exile from its essential, G‑dly nature.

It is important to remember that their diagnoses do not define their emotions, although it may impact how they express them and what they express.

Careful scrutiny of the text (and the Midrashic subtext) reveals that some of these heroes lived with life-altering disabilities

Each year my wife and I host an alcohol-free Purim seudah (festive afternoon meal) in the heart of Jerusalem for Jewish alcoholics, addicts, and their families.