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We’re in Israel for part 2 of the Israeli/Palestinian Comedy Tour! This has been a whirlwind. With show locations ranging from Haifa to Be’er Sheva, including Ra’anana, Tel Aviv, the Ambassador Hotel, Jerusalem and on and on. The show was nicely blogged on Jewschool. We also made TWO trips to fabulous West Bank city of [...]

Turning point! This week B’nai Israel finds itself within spitting distance of the Promised Land. But to YHWH’s apparent annoyance they send spies to check out the scene. The spies’ report makes the Hebrews feel worse than Chicago Cubs fans in August. They, as usual, begin to question the whole wilderness crossing project. YHWH, also [...]

This week, YHWH (which we’re told can be pronounced, “Yoo Hoo Woo Hoo”) and her band of Hebrew homies begin their adventures “In the Wilderness.” Despite being about the business of raising an army, the parsha itself is REALLY DRY. You can see why it’s called the book of “Numbers.” They might also call it, [...]

“One shallow babe,” is how we might describe our god in this parsha (were we not so respectful). She lays out the rules for the kohenim, or priests, of Her temple — rules which have no spiritual or moral requirements whatsoever. YHWH’s priests just need to be high gloss. Having established that, She takes Her [...]

“Love your neighbor as yourself” is our favorite quote from this, very weird, parsha. It is also the mantra of our congregation. But getting to the weird part, YHWH is forever screeching that she is our one and only god. This week, however, She commands us to send offerings to another deity! Azazel is a [...]

Wikipedia offers a good beginning list of Jewish American poets–the big hitters like Louise Glück, Adrienne Rich, Marilyn Hacker, Allen Ginsberg, Stanley Kunitz, Gertrude Stein, Philip Levine, Robert Pinsky–all the names you’ll probably see listed a lot as Jewish poets to read, and rightfully you should. Many of their works are quite phenomenal.
But it [...]

“Bring out the priests!” Hashem has established herself in her new earthly home. She’s placed her meal orders and now explains when and how her food will be acquired, which involves a bit of humiliation from Moses brother, the High Priest. She seems to simultanoously elevate and insult Aaron and his sons. But at least [...]

This week’s parsha is a double portion that finishes the book of Exodus (Shemot.) Most of it tells the story Bezalel and Oholiab, the two Hebrews in charge of building the tabernacle (Mishkan.) We read of all the ritual objects created for the Mishkan and of the structure itself, which was the early model for [...]

This week Moses’ relationship with his girlfriend G*d settles in to become downright domestic. After the golden calf unpleasantness She virtually disowns the Hebrews. But then, because Moses has her number, she relents and agrees not only to let the Hebrews live but also to accompany them to Canaan. Finally, as an extra treat just [...]

This week both YHWH and Versace are thinking priestly fashion. Moses and YHWH are still huddled within the cloud-topped Mount Sinai. Having spent last week laying out in precise detail, the structure She wants built, now She is waxing very specific about the attire of the cult priests who will supervise the bloody sacrifices She [...]