This week’s Torah portion is Bamidbar. It’s the first portion of the Book of Numbers. Bamidbar means “wilderness.” For 40 years, the Israelites wandered both literally and metaphorically through the wilderness of Egypt on their way to Canaan. Today we do the same. We wander through the wilderness of uncertainty. We wander through the wilderness of […]
10 Things I saw in Israel that I hope to never forget
1) The sea turtle swimming off the shore of Rosh HaNikra. 2) The man playing violin for our kids in Tzfat. 3) The peacock, plumage on display, at Kibbutz Gonen. 4) The two UN soldiers somberly sipping coffee at Mt. Bental. 5) The baby Ibex on the road to Ein Avdat. 6) The carpentry in […]
Life Lessons– 2015 Israel Trip
One of the responsibilities I enjoy most in my role at The Davis Academy is leading our annual 8th grade Israel trip. I’ve literally just come home from the airport after two extraordinary weeks chaperoning 68 8th grade students along with several other colleagues. For a comprehensive chronicle of our experiences you can read my […]
Lech l’cha
In the 12th chapter of the book of Genesis God tells Abram and Sarai (long before they become Abraham and Sarah), “Lech l’cha.” Commonly translated as “go forth” or “go” it’s actually something much deeper. If we translate it literally it comes out as something like, “go to yourself.” “Go to yourself”??? I don’t know […]
The unity of all humankind
I recently accompanied 7th graders from The Davis Academy on an interfaith field trip. We visited the Roswell Community Masjid, The BAPS Hindu Mandir, and Atlanta’s Baha’i Center. Having visited these three sites somewhat amazingly puts Davis Academy 7th graders in a small minority of people who have visited faith communities other than their own […]
How we celebrate
Jewish tradition teaches, “Rejoice in your holy days, and may your holy days be joyous.” As it turns out, Judaism has dozens of words that are all synonyms for “celebrate.” Simcha, rina, ditza, oneg… These are just a few. We learn a lot about a culture from its language. That Judaism has so many different ways of […]