Ahz mah (So what)

I have recently been having an extended conversation with some of my friends, both in-person and via email, on the subject of having a purpose in life. As in all truly Jewish conversations, we are ending up with more questions than when we began! I invite you to join the conversation, or start your own. The initial question I raised went something like this: Do you think you could articulate your purpose in life? Do you think there is any benefit in trying to articulate your purpose in life? Do you even believe that there is such a thing as having a purpose in life? In what way(s) is it different from your goals in life? So ask your family members, ask your friends. It’s a good stuck-in-the-house-in-the-winter sort of conversation starter. (I first thought of it the day of the big snow storm in December!) Because there is no one “right” answer, and certainly no one right Jewish answer, it’s great for people of all ages and interests. And like all good Jewish questions, it will hopefull...

When I was a teenager I was chronically dissatisfied. I spent most of my after-school hours at my best friend's house, wishing that I had her family (including her dog). I longed for adventure and romance, but pretty much experienced neither. (Or so it seemed to me.) I couldn't wait to grow up and have a life that was other than what it was. These days, although I am older and hopefully wiser, I am still aware of that inner voice which is quick to judge the present moment, longing for it to be other than what it is. In the biblical tale of Joseph which we are currently reading in the annual Torah cycle, Potifar's wife is the embodiment of dissatisfaction. Joseph has been sold by his brothers into slavery, and comes to work in the home of Potifar, a wealthy Egyptian. Potifar's wife is smitten by this handsome young man, and attempts to seduce him. When Joseph rejects her repeated advances and finally flees from her, she howls in outrage and seeks revenge. Thankfully, the...

Chanukah is a funny holiday. The more you investigate it, the stranger it gets. Most of us know the basic story that we learned as children, about brave Judah and the Maccabees versus the evil Greek empire. But it turns out that there are several tellings of the story; and the more you investigate, the less clear it is who were the “good guys” and who were the “bad guys.” Add to that the historical fact that the Maccabee (Hasmonean) dynasty became corrupt within about a century of their victory, and were political opponents of the early rabbis, and the story gets even stranger! In the United States, the proximity of Chanukah to Christmas eventually led to an emphasis on the giving of gifts on Chanukah. It has also led to the perception among Christians (and many Jews) that Chanukah is a major Jewish holiday – which it never was, likely because the rabbis who created what we know of as Judaism had reason to be wary of those corrupt Hasmoneans and what they stood for. Meanwhile, we insti...

I love faces. Wherever I am, I love looking at people's faces. It's one of my favorite things to do. Abraham Joshua Heschel writes: "A face is a message, a face speaks, often unbeknown to the person. Is not the human face a living mixture of mystery and meaning? We are all able to see it, and are all unable to describe it. Is it not a strange marvel that among so many hundreds of millions of faces, no two faces are alike? And that no face remains quite the same for more than one instant?" In the first chapter of the Book of Genesis, it is written: "And God said, let us make a human in our image and our likeness." Have you ever wondered what the ancient Israelites meant by that? Did they really believe that we physically resemble God, or that God physically resembles us? Or were they trying to say something else? I believe that this mythic story was worded purposefully, in order to point towards the wondrousness of our essential nature and the inherent worth ...

We are currently in the month of Cheshvan, which is also called in Hebrew “mar (bitter) Cheshvan.” Although no one knows why for sure, some say that this name refers to the fact that Cheshvan is the only Jewish month with no holidays. (Although from a rabbi’s point of view, after the holiday-packed month that precedes it Cheshvan can feel like a welcome relief!) But of course in America this month, we do have a holiday. When I was younger my mother used to remind me that our rabbi (who immigrated to this country as a child from Germany) always praised the American holiday of Thanksgiving. I agree with him – Thanksgiving is a very Jewish holiday (not just because it was modeled after Sukkot!), and a wonderful time to express our gratitude for this great country and its values. It is also a fine time to express our gratitude for all that is good in our lives. As I know I have mentioned before, the Jewish practice of saying 100 brachot/blessings each day points us toward the val...