Soul

March 27, 2025

A Year of Jewish Ethics #13: Lost and Found

It is a mitzvah to return a lost object to its owner. That might seem like a fairly obvious thing to do, but what’s not so obvious is why Jewish law considers returning things to be such a major mitzvah. There are eight chapters devoted entirely to lost and found in the Mishneh Torah, the… Continue reading

A Year of Jewish Ethics, Ethics, Exodus, Ki Tetze, Mishpatim, Parashat Hashavua, Soul, Torah, Young Jewish Adult, Youth
October 1, 2022

My Rosh Hashanah Sermons From Last Week

Here are my sermons from Rosh Hashanah 5783: First day:Help Me Talk About What I've Been Through and Who I Am Second day:Right-ology: How to Be Right Better in the New Year Wishing everyone a Shana Tova Umetukah, a good and sweet new year! Continue reading

Calendar, Coronavirus, Current Affairs, Election, Elul, Ethics, Gratitude, Hakarat Hatov, High Holidays, Holidays, Hope, Middot, Midrash, Prayer, Rosh Hashanah, Soul, Speech Ethics, Spirituality, Synagogue, Talmud, Teacher-Student Relationship, Television, Teshuvah, Theology, Torah, Tov! Podcast, USA, Yamim Noraim
September 7, 2022

Getting From Here to High Holy Days, Starting With a Party!

This is based on what I said on Shabbat morning, August 27, 2022 at the start of the month of Elul. It was the day of a Bar Mitzvah and an aufruf (blessing to a couple about to get married)! Usually I think of Elul as a time of introspection before we get together in… Continue reading

Calendar, Elul, Ethics, Gratitude, Hakarat Hatov, High Holidays, Holidays, Hope, Joy, Prayer, Ritual, Rosh Hashanah, Shabbat, Simcha, Soul, Spirituality, Study, Synagogue, Yamim Noraim, Yom Kippur
September 5, 2022

Media From Me for Elul — Tov! Podcast, Maimonides YouTubes

We're deep into Season 3 of Tov!, my podcast about The Good Place and Jewish ideas related to teshuvah. You can find all the most recent episodes here, or type "Tov!" into your favorite podcast app. Also, I have been logging in at 12:36pm Eastern time each weekday this Elul to teach and talk about some classic teaching about teshuvah, mostly… Continue reading

Calendar, Elul, Ethics, Foregiveness, Halacha, High Holidays, Holidays, Maimonides, Ritual, Rosh Hashanah, Soul, Study, Talmud, Teshuvah, Torah, Tov! Podcast, Yamim Noraim
September 2, 2021

Tov! Podcast Chapter 5 Is Published!

That's Rabbi Sari Laufer, my partner for Chapter 5 of Tov! "To Measure or Not to Measure" — on “The Good Place” Eleanor is excited when she is polite for the first time without thinking, Tahani’s philanthropy doesn't score enough points with her parents or the algorithm, and Chidi doesn’t find pleasure in doing the… Continue reading

Education, Elul, Ethics, Foregiveness, Hasidism, High Holidays, Holidays, Hope, Jewish Education, Middot, Movies, Rosh Hashanah, Soul, Study, Television, Torah, Tov! Podcast, Yamim Noraim, Yom Kippur, Young Jewish Adult, Youth
August 18, 2021

Tov! Podcast Chapter 3 Is Up!

On “The Good Place” Michael tries to guide Chidi and Janet toward new things, but it’s Eleanor who finds unexpected inspiration because of Tahani. So on the podcast, Jon Spira-Savett and Audrey Marcus Berkman explore reincarnation Jewish-style and who the teacher you need turns out to be. Continue reading

Calendar, Education, Elul, Ethics, Foregiveness, High Holidays, Holidays, Hope, Jewish Education, Leadership, Middot, Rosh Hashanah, Soul, Spirituality, Study, Talmud, Teacher-Student Relationship, Television, Teshuvah, Torah, Yamim Noraim, Yom Kippur, Young Jewish Adult, Youth
August 8, 2021

Launching Tov! The Podcast About “The Good Place” and Jewish Ideas

If you're a fan of "The Good Place" and at all connected to Jews or Judaism, try out my new podcast that I'm creating with a bunch of colleagues! Tov! is on all the major podcast platforms, and it will be a fun and interesting way to explore some Jewish texts and ideas. Check out the… Continue reading

Calendar, Education, Ethics, Foregiveness, Gossip, Harry Potter, High Holidays, Holidays, Hope, Jewish Education, Lashon Hara, Leadership, Middot, Rosh Hashanah, Soul, Study, Talmud, Television, Teshuvah, Tikkun Olam, Tzedakah, Web/Tech, Weblogs, Yamim Noraim, Young Jewish Adult, Youth
June 28, 2021

Ships, Planks, and Storms — Looking Back and Ahead

These were my words of Torah at the start of Temple Beth Abraham's annual congregational meeting on June 15, 2021. Though they refer specifically to that occasion in places, I think the Torah here is apt for all of us as we reflect on the past fifteen months and the transitions we in, each in our own… Continue reading

Calendar, Coronavirus, Current Affairs, Hope, Middot, Patience, Prayer, Soul, Spirituality, Study, Synagogue, Talmud, Temple Beth Abraham, Torah, USA
January 28, 2021

Remembering Debbie Friedman on Her 10th Yahrzeit

I gave this D'var Torah on Saturday morning, January 23, on the Shabbat before Debbie Friedman's 10th yahrzeit. On a Sunday night in early January 25 years ago, Laurie and I were living in Queens and there was a big Nor’easter brewing. Some of you may remember, it came all the way up here –… Continue reading

Education, Feminism, Holidays, Inclusion, Jewish Education, Music, Prayer, Soul, Spirituality, Study, Synagogue, Theology, Torah, Young Jewish Adult, Youth
July 29, 2020

Your Two Personal Assistants Toward the High Holy Days

This year I updated my usual re-post about Moshe and Yeshayahu, your "two personal spiritual assistants", and published it at the Times of Israel: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/your-two-personal-spiritual-assistants-toward-the-new-year/ Continue reading

Calendar, Coronavirus, Current Affairs, Devarim, Elul, Foregiveness, High Holidays, Holidays, Patience, Rosh Hashanah, Soul, Spirituality, Teshuvah, Theology, Torah, Yom Kippur
April 22, 2019

Seders Are Done, But Passover Isn’t!

My column for the April 2019 bulletin for Temple Beth Abraham: One way to experience Pesach (Passover) is: Two nights of Seder, followed by a week of matzah. Two nights of a unique happening – around a table, with people very familiar and/or new to you, part recitation and part roleplaying, with symbolic foods and… Continue reading

Antisemitism, Books, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Ethics, Food, Freedom, Gossip, Holidays, Jewish Education, Justice, Lashon Hara, Sefirat Ha-omer, Soul, Spirituality, Study, Tikkun Olam, Tzedakah, Tzedek
August 10, 2018

The Elul Love Your Neighbor Study Challenge

Dear Friends: This Shabbat is the first day of Rosh Chodesh Elul, the new moon marking one month before Rosh Hashanah. I want to invite all of you into a challenge with me: the Elul Love Your Neighbor Study Challenge. Part of the process of teshuvah (returning, redirecting ourselves) is studying what the Torah says about relationships between people and… Continue reading

Calendar, Current Affairs, Elul, Ethics, High Holidays, Holidays, Justice, Kedoshim, Middot, Rabbi, Rosh Hashanah, Soul, Study, Theology, Tikkun Olam, Tzedakah, Tzedek, USA, Yamim Noraim, Yom Kippur