Posted in Interfaith on 30 October 2007 | No Comments »
Last week I was preoccupied with the implications of Vayeira and the aqedah, but Abraham’s tent and his encounter with the three angels still resonate in my memory.
While Chagall’s etching of the episode (left) are familiar to many, the images of Chinese printmaker He Qi (right) often inspire my reflections. Unlike Chagall’s [...]
Posted in D'var Torah, Judaism happens, Knittivism, Uncategorized on 25 October 2007 | 2 Comments »
The stories that mean most to us bring us back to our own unintelligible and yet immeasurably meaningful lives. Arthur A. Brown, “Storytelling, The Meaning of Life, and the Epic of Gilgamesh“
Next week a group of Reform Jewish-Americans and Christian and Muslim Palestinian-Americans, residents of the greater Philadelphia area, will meet in my home [...]
Posted in D'var Torah, Peacebuilders on 19 October 2007 | No Comments »
Sometimes the Jewish calendar is a complete mystery to me - the complexity of the efforts to coordinate the cycle of lunar months and leap years with traditional observance has kept Jewish scholars, astronomers (1, 2 ) and astrologers (1, 2, 3) busy for centuries …
Carved on stone tablets, paved on ancient synagogue floors, [...]
Posted in Curiosities, Judaica, RS Tikkunknitters on 12 October 2007 | 1 Comment »
If I can spend the better part of an evening trying to knit this,
and making this,
then why not try to knit this?
Take the spelling test at: http://metaatem.net/words
Check out: the (Rodeph Shalom) TikkunKnitters’ first appearance, at Philadelphia’s MitzvahMania Day, October 21st
The knitted shofar is on its way …
Posted in Environmental Action, Uncategorized on 10 October 2007 | No Comments »
Genesis narratives possess me. Jewish tradition has few accounts of spiritual possession; Kabbalistic accounts speak positively of being possessed by divine spirit, and the dybbuk and golem are perhaps the most well known Jewish “ghost” stories (here is a review of a recent study of the history of possession in Judaism). But Creation, Eden, Cain [...]
Posted in Holidays, Judaica, Knittivism, Olive Tree, Pursuit of Peace, TikkunKnitting Opportunities on 5 October 2007 | No Comments »
Even though we cannot take down our sukkah until the weekend, we are keenly aware that this favorite holiday is past, and that we move forward. Simchat Torah closes Sukkot, or rather amplifies in a final flash of enthusiasm the rejoicing of Sukkot, and initiates another beginning of everything that follows … there’s just nothing [...]
Posted in Holidays, Pursuit of Peace, Rodeph Shalom, Sukkah on 1 October 2007 | 3 Comments »
I dreamed of a painted sukkah, of a “green” sukkah, of a harvest of knitted fruits and vegetables … I dreamed of a space in which community might happen, a space in which the work of helping to make peace might be discussed, planned, organized. I think my dream has come true.
The paint dried Monday [...]
