Reflections, August 2016
By Rabbi Dr. James Jacobson-Maisels Parshat Va’etchanan The Vitebsker’s interpretation of va’etchanan starts with Rashi’s reading of one of the parsha’s most famous verses: Rashi interprets the verse “You have been shown to know [that YHVH alone is God; there is none beside Him]” (Deut 4:35) according to the Targum (the ancient Aramaic translation) which renders […]
Reflections, May 2016
By Rabbi Dr. James Jacobson-Maisels “I will run on the path of Your mitzvot for they widen my heart” (Ps. 119:32). Do not we all want that widened heart? The Vitebsker in parshat Emor tells us that joy is accessible to us all. The path is the practice of letting go of ego, and the […]
Reflections, March 2016
By Rabbi Dr. James Jacobson-Maisels “This is the law (Torah): When a person dies in a tent” (Num. 19:14). How do we want to die? What kind of death do we desire? R. Israel Hopshtein of Koznitz, the Maggid of Koznitz uses death as a way of talking about life and uses two ways of […]
Reflections, February 2016
Ki Tisa By Rabbi Dr. James Jacobson-Maisels Judaism, for the most part, prescribes behavior; not thoughts or feelings. For a religion of laws, this is wise, as how can one demand that a person think or feel a certain way? But R. Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk, in his teaching on Ki Tisa challenges this approach […]
Reflections, December 2015
By James Jacobsen-Maisels, Founder and Spiritual Director There are times when we feel overwhelmed, helpless, as if life is closing in on us, like it is all just too much. In many ways, it’s the atmosphere of this time of year: the days are getting shorter, the darkness longer. What are we to do? Yet […]
Reflections, October 2015
By James Jacobsen-Maisels, Founder and Spiritual Director Earlier this month, a new baby girl was born to our family. She is our third child and hers was the third birth I had been present for. It was wondrous, emotional, extraordinary and simply miraculous. It isn’t surprising that it was so wondrous and emotional for me, […]
Torah Study for the Soul: Pri Ha'Aretz
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