Author Archives: Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

Before and Within

Posted on September 29, 2014 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

A strange Yom Kippur story was told by Rabbi Ishmael, a High Priest of the 2nd Temple: Once, I entered before and within (the Holy of Holies) to offer the incense and I saw Akatriel Yah, the Lord of Hosts, sitting on … Continue reading →

Posted in Blessing, Days of Awe, Holidays, Poetry, Talmud | Leave a comment

Beginnings Ripe And Ripening

Posted on September 9, 2014 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

Rabbi Eliezer asks:  From where do we learn that the world was created in Tishrei? From the verse: God said, let the earth sprout grasses, seed-bearing plants, fruit trees of every kind on earth bearing fruit with the seed in … Continue reading →

Posted in Days of Awe, Holidays, Passover, Poetry, Talmud | 2 Comments

Raising Voices At The New Moon

Posted on August 28, 2014 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

Elijah, the prophet, would come regularly to the academy of Rabbi Judah, the Patriarch. One day—it was the day of the new moon—Elijah did not come to the prayers. When Elijah finally arrived, Rabbi Judah said: Why was the master … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry | 3 Comments

Amen: The Final Word

Posted on July 23, 2014 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

On my table sits a stone amen written upon it, a grave stone fragment, a remnant of a Jewish graveyard destroyed more than a thousand years ago, in the city where I was born. One word, amen, cut deep in … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry, Talmud | 1 Comment

Sinai’s Appealing Thunder

Posted on June 1, 2014 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

I will not float in space un-tethered lest a cloud obscure the very fine line in my heart that separates good and evil. I have no life-line without the lightning and the thunder that I heard at Sinai. (Click here … Continue reading →

Posted in Holidays, Memory, Midrash, Poetry | Leave a comment

You Open For Him

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

Rabbi Eleazar HaKappar said:  Do not be like a lintel overhead that no one can reach; neither, be like a door beam that injures faces, nor like a raised threshold that bruises feet. Rather, be like a low threshold that … Continue reading →

Posted in Holidays, Passover, Poetry, Talmud | 1 Comment

Never Too Early, Never Too Late

Posted on March 3, 2014 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

On the 9th anniversary of my father’s death— It seemed to some ancient sages that the Book of Ezekiel opens years after the start of the prophet’s career. Instead of beginning in the fifth year of the exile of King … Continue reading →

Posted in Events, Life cycle, Memory, Midrash, Poetry | 3 Comments

Seeing Life In the Distance

Posted on September 11, 2013 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

Imagine a life in which repentance—teshuvah—is not necessary; a life in which there is no distance to close between action and ideal. According to the 3rd century sage, Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba, the promise of such a life was beyond … Continue reading →

Posted in Days of Awe, Poetry, Talmud | Leave a comment

To Forgive Is Human

Posted on August 28, 2013 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

How divine is forgiveness? asks the poet, Marge Piercy: It’s a nice concept but what’s under the sculptured draperies? We forgive when we don’t really care… We forgive those who betrayed us years later because memory has rotted through like … Continue reading →

Posted in Days of Awe, Mishnah, Talmud | 1 Comment

In Light of Obligation

Posted on August 20, 2013 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

Halacha is law; the obligated Jewish life. To live without halacha is impossible. To live with it is risky— from a lecture by Rabbi David Hartman. When halachic man looks to the western horizon and sees the fading rays of … Continue reading →

Posted in Midrash, Poetry, Prayer, Talmud | 3 Comments