FOUR/VaYera/RUBBERNECK

November 11, 2008 My father and I are walking in the park outside their home. It’s a sunny Friday afternoon in Jerusalem, children are playing,  birds fly about. and from nearby East Jerusalem the call of the Muezzin is heard, calling the worshippers to the mosque. Soon it will be sundown and the Sabbath-Siren will […]

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THREE/Lech Lech/LOOK UP

November 5, 2008 When was the last time I laughed like this? Belly deep, open mouth, a great relief, cheering wildly, clapping, very very happy?  When was the last time I cried like this, in public, not caring that I’m surrounded by strangers, so deeply moved…? It felt like reaching a mountain top, after a […]

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TWO/NOAH/GET OUT

 October 30,2008 All around Jerusalem the olive trees are full of ripe fruit these days – harvest season is well underway, but this is not a year of bounty. Last year’s scarce rains have provided for a leaner harvest throughout the region (water sanctions were announced today), and for Palestinians in the West Bank trouble […]

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ONE: Genesis/Bereshit

October 22 2008Hope like Water Flight 86 lands at Tel Aviv just two hours before the last of the High Holidays, Simchat Torah, begins, and by the time we drive into Jerusalem the streets are full of men and boys in festive dress heading to the synagogues. My mother, already in silk and pearls but […]

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reverb

REVERB: A Weekly Torah Takeaway AN INTRODUCTION October 2008 Beginnings: I have just arrived in Jerusalem, Israel to begin a year-long Sabbatical. It will be, I hope, a year of reconnection, introspection and focused writing. I intend to document this journey, and invite you to join me on this road trip as I chart this […]

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