PEBBLES/STONES ON A GRAVE
While on our Trolley Tour of Savannah Georgia, we drove by this Jewish monument to the first Jewish settlers and the first Jewish cemetery in Savannah. ————— Savannah has the third oldest temple in the United States–Temple Mikveh Israel (1733). Mikveh Israel (מִקְוֵה יִשְׂרָאֵל) translates to “Hope of Israel” or “Gathering of Israel”. It is […]
XI – XYLON — ξ
On the forehead of the face that is imprinted on the linen clothes that Yeshua was buried in is what looks like a three 3. It is actually a reverse image of the Greek letter Xi (Xylon). The letter Xlyon was sometimes branded or cut into a prisoner set for Roman crucifixion. It signified xylon […]
COME
The week’s Torah portion is called Parshah “Bo” (בֹּ֖א). It begins in Exodus 10:1. “The Lord said to Moses: “Come (Bo) to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, in order that I may place these signs of Mine in his midst,” [Note: I have seen Bo translated as “go,” but […]
ANWERING THE CALL
Tonight I’ll be giving a short Torah teaching, known as a “D’Var” (a word) for my Jewish Federation of Dutchess County January 2026 board meeting. Here’s what I have planned. ____________________________________ TITLE: ANWERING THE CALL I think it’s fair to say that you all know “the story” at least on the surface of this week’s Parshah. […]
PLEASE!
A good parent teaches their child from a very young age to say Please אָנָּא! The word “Please” (אָנָּא) appears very few times in Torah. I can only find one place where it appears twice in the same verses and that is in Genesis (Bereshit) chapter 50, concerning Joseph forgiving his brothers transgressions. In Genesis 50:17 […]
TO BELIEVE
The bible doesn’t change. People do. Here is an example. I was at my regular Saturday morning scripture study. At present we are working through sefer (סֵפֶר) Mishlei (מִשְׁלֵי), the book of Proverbs. We do a perek (פרק), chapter, a week and we are up to chapter 27. There are about 18 of us and […]
IRON SHARPENS IRON
Proverbs 27.17 – As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. I recently purchased the knife sharpening set pictured above. It is a set of different stones with different grits. One uses grit stones to “sharpen,” so I wanted to look at this verse more closely. Here is what a little research tells me. The proverb […]
TRAGIC IRONY
History overflows with tragic ironies, where gatekeepers of truth are misjudged and pay a terrible price for their essential pivot role. Compounding the tragic irony is that they’re seldom around to receive proper credit for how they shaped history. Secular Examples of Misjudged Vision Socrates, condemned by Athens’ wisest for “corrupting youth,” spoke truths about […]
SHEVAT AND ADAR — ROLLING TOGETHER TIME, RELIGION, POLITICS AND LIFE
I was asked to write the Jewish Federation board blog for February issue of our newspaper, The Voice. This is roughly what I will be submitting. ———– February begins with the holiday of Tu B’Shevat, the “New Year for Trees,” on February 2nd. Then, on the 17th, with Rosh Chodesh, we roll into the Hebrew month of Adar, […]
KAVOD — THE LORD IS NOT TO BE TAKEN LIGHTLY
Psalm 29.9—The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare, and in his temple all cry, “Glory (Kavod)!” This Post is Heavy Kavod (כָּבוֹד) is the Hebrew word primarily meaning “glory,” “honor,” or “weight.” Kaved and kavod share the same Hebrew root כ-ב-ד (k-b-d), linking concepts of weight and […]