Category Archives: Torah

Heroes Who Limp

Posted on March 13, 2018 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

Jacob’s midnight assailant was surprised at his adversary’s great strength. He wondered if Jacob might be an angel like himself. Angels have no leg joints, the midrash teaches, so he touched Jacob at the hip to determine whether his opponent’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Angels, Blessing, Midrash, Poetry, Torah | 4 Comments

Naming The Unimaginable

Posted on October 29, 2017 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

At the harrowing end, a ram replaced Yitzhak as the sacrifice; a narrow escape that came only after two divine interventions to divert father Abraham from his unimaginable mission. Generations of rabbinic storytellers imagined even narrower escapes for Yitzhak, placing … Continue reading →

Posted in Midrash, Names, Parshat HaShavuah, Poetry, Torah | Leave a comment

Believe it—And Not

Posted on October 16, 2017 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

Noah was lacking in belief, taught the 3rd century teacher, Rabbi Yohanan. If not for the water reaching his ankles, he would not have entered the ark. Lacking in belief? Noah, who fulfilled the twin tasks of building the great … Continue reading →

Posted in Midrash, Parshat HaShavuah, Torah | 4 Comments

Steps, Blessed Be They

Posted on April 7, 2017 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

God is steps, declared Yehuda Amichai. Such an outright assertion about God was unusual for the great Israeli poet. He was fond of similes that invited listeners closer to the mystery without violating the distance that mystery needs. Among his … Continue reading →

Posted in Midrash, Poetry, Prayer, Torah | 1 Comment

How Deep? How High?

Posted on March 31, 2017 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

How much do I love you? I’ll tell you no lie. How deep is the ocean? How high is the sky? Irving Berlin wrote the song, How Deep Is the Ocean? in 1932. It consists mainly of rhetorical questions that point … Continue reading →

Posted in Holidays, Midrash, Passover, Poetry, Torah | Leave a comment

Forgetting Reminds Me…

Posted on December 14, 2016 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

The national election created in me a deep sense that I wanted to meet and speak with more of my neighbors. In my busy-ness, it’s easy to walk past the community of the every-day. That seems wrong to me now. … Continue reading →

Posted in Names, Parshat HaShavuah, Torah | 5 Comments

The Binding Of God

Posted on September 29, 2016 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

To my mind’s eye, Rabbi Berechiah appeared stoop-shouldered and mournful on Rosh Hashanah as he listened to the Torah reader recite Genesis 22, The Binding of Isaac. Berechiah, a 4th century sage of the land of Israel, was pained by … Continue reading →

Posted in Days of Awe, Holidays, Midrash, Poetry, Torah | 1 Comment

The Deepening And Expanding Torah

Posted on March 30, 2016 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

After Mount Sinai, the Mishnah says, height was no longer the measure of Torah; depth and breadth became Torah’s new and useful dimensions: Moses received Torah from Sinai and transmitted it to Joshua who transmitted it to the elders; from … Continue reading →

Posted in Mishnah, Poetry, Torah | Leave a comment

Where The House Once Was

Posted on July 14, 2015 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

It’s hard to imagine Torah scholars having such a furious argument that they ripped a Torah scroll. But… It happened, did it not, in the synagogue of Tiberias over the issue of a doorstop that had a knob on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry, Talmud, Torah | Leave a comment

More Moment Than Mountain

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

Ancient legends say that great mountains contended to be the site where God would reveal the Torah. But God did not have loftiness in mind: Mount Tabor and Mount Carmel presented themselves with pride as wide as the world saying:  … Continue reading →

Posted in Holidays, Midrash, Poetry, Talmud, Torah | Leave a comment