The month we just entered is Cheshvan or Marcheshvan. The prefix “mar” is typically translated as bitter, meaning that this month is bitter because it contains no holidays. However, “mar” also means drop, as in a drop of water. Here it refers to the beginning of the rainy season. I never find Cheshvan to be bitter….
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Rabbi Milder of Congregation Beth Emek in Pleasanton is one of my favorite rabbis to quote. Here’s what he emailed to his congregation about the “scheduling” of our next holiday, Simchat Torah. *** Sukkot, the festival that everyone loves because it has such weird stuff in it (the lulav, the etrog, and the Sukkah itself)…
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When my Mexican daughter-in-law approached her first October with us – it was during the pandemic and they were living with us – she asked could she set up an Ofrenda. My first thought was OF COURSE! What fun to learn about this tradition. Since we were also approaching Sukkot I began to make note…
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I subscribe to the emails from Jewtina.org, a website whose mission is: To celebrate, elevate, and expand Latin-Jewish community while strengthening identity, leadership, and connection to Global Jewry. As a person living in a multiracial family with Hispanic members this mission is close to my heart. Last Friday I received an email from Jewtina with…
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Someone told me that Aug. 26 is National Dog Day. I have a dog! I’ve had dogs, cats, rats, fish, and chickens. I feel very possessive of the hummingbirds I shelter in my garden. My next thought was what does Judaism teach about the treatment of animals? In ancient times animals were not pets, they…
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The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament in Christian terminology) is often called a dark and vengeful text. One of the most commonly quoted sentences that ‘proves’ this is the one Rabbi Milder is talking about below, Mishpatim. This is another example how many people read the Torah on the simplest level, Peshat. That is, they read…
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