Author: Rabbi Lia Bass

This past week, the Jewish Institute for Lifelong Learning and Innovation (JILLI) celebrated its first anniversary. It is a time of profound gratitude for the support that we have received from you, to celebrate what we have accomplished together, and to imagine the future.

I continue the exploration of the sefirot by examining the sefirah of Hohmah, of Wisdom. Ayn Sof and Keter, the two concepts we have examined until now, are too amorphous for us to have a true grasp of what they are and how they function. The closest aspect of the…

When I meditate, I might close my eyes, or I might have a soft gaze, focusing on my breath. Or I might focus on the curves and straight lines of a Hebrew letter, feeling their beat in my heart, in the rhythm of my breath.

We are approaching summer, my favorite time of the year. Although Washington DC is hot and muggy, I love the light, and the colors of summer. I relish the succession of blooming flowers, and how they make me feel alive.

This week we welcome Laura Hill, who shares a poem she created in honor of her Simchat Mitzvah, the day when she celebrated her adult approach to Jewish life, on the Torah portions of Tazria-Metzora.

For many years I have been making a point of always bringing my own reading materials when I go to doctors’ offices. I do that out of a sense of self-preservation.

This coming week we will be experiencing another “pandemic Passover.” It is one more year of not being able to join with friends in the same room. In my dark imagination I believe that Passover will feel, again, constrained, and in many ways, diminished.

It is cold out. I have always, will always, and continually dislike cold weather. My heart swelled with joy when I looked at the calendar and realized that it is time to start preparing for the holiday of Pesach.

Photo courtesy Josh Murphy Today was the funeral of Flory Jagoda. Much was said at her funeral, about all her accomplishments, and the power of her music. I don’t need to repeat any of that. I will share with you a few personal remembrances about her.

There is one passage in the TaNaKh1 that has always heightened my discomfort around the concept of wars, which we will read in this week’s haftarah2.