SukkotFest

Cultural Christmas This is going to be a fun one. There was a tradition at the congregation that I served in Chicago to involve Christmas carols written by Jews in the service closest to Christmas. There was always a crowd. I’m sure many of you love the cultural aspects of Christmas; by that, I mean […]

This week’s Torah portion tells the story of Jacob wrestling with the angel. Jacob is alone at the river when the angel appears, and the struggle begins. No name is given, no reason explained—only bodies wrestling in the dark. Fear rises, pain sharpens, exhaustion presses in, yet Jacob continues the struggle, discovering that growth is […]

Jacob’s most powerful moment is not the dream itself, but what he does when he wakes. Alone, afraid, and uncertain, he touches heaven—and then he returns to the ground. He takes an ordinary stone and turns it into a marker of responsibility. Jewish spirituality never ends in vision alone. Ascent matters only if it brings […]