Author Archives: bezallelkoli

BS”D By Rabbi Ronnie Cahana July 31, 2020 I always wondered why we say such spare words in our songs on Shabbat. How come Shalom Aleichem teaches us very little? We know the Angels enter our presence, but shouldn’t they be greeted with more flowery words; wouldn’t there be a poetic welcome to such loftyContinue reading “Va’etchanan: Brevity not Levity”

BS”D By Briah Cahana July 24, 2020 In Jewish time, we have entered the nine days before Tisha Be’av, mourning destructions and disasters that have befallen our people from as long as 2500 years ago, including the iconoclastic demolition of the two Temples in Jerusalem.  In the midst of full summer heat, out of sync withContinue reading “Devarim- On the Threshold: Moshe Speaks to the Past, the Present and the Future”

BS”D By Dvir Cahana July 17, 2020 It is hard to know the longterm effects that Covid-19 will have on our society. With more insight I’m sure that many possible trends will be explained and traced back to the Pandemic that took us all by surprise. But what is certain is that it has forcedContinue reading “Matot-Masei: Making each Minute less Minute”

BS”D By Dvir Cahana featuring Rabbi Moshe Cahana July 10, 2020 Phinehas, the eponymous character of this week’s Torah reading is a provocative figure that demands the attention of rabbinic interpreters. When the nation falls prey to false prayers and licentiousness, G-d unleashes a plague, killing 24,000 people in its wake. Moses calls upon theContinue reading “Pinchas: Put a P’N in it”

BS”D By Dvir Cahana July 3, 2020 This week’s Torah portion, Chukat, begins with a very common biblical phrase: “וַיְדַבֵּ֣ר יְה-וָ֔ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה וְאֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֖ן לֵאמֹֽר” “The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying” (Numbers 19:1). This line, albeit with slight variations from its typical formulation with Moses, is marked off as its own sentence and willContinue reading “Chukat: The Golden Calf is the Golden Path?!?”

BS”D By Dvir Cahana June 26, 2020

BS”D By Briah Cahana June 19th 2020 The questions we ask directly impact what we will see and experience. They are the glasses that frame our realities and interactions, inform our compassion, critiques and action. They often are so embedded in our psyches, built up from previous knowledge both inherited and experienced, that we don’tContinue reading “Shlach Lecha- She’eila Lecha- Asking the Tough Questions that Soften Us”

BS”D By Dvir Cahana June 12, 2020 This week’s Parsha, Be’Haalotcha greets us during a very tenuous time. It seems like the country is in disarray. The National guard have been deployed onto the people and the riots have been in full vigour. There is clearly an incongruity between the demands of the impassioned riotsContinue reading “Be’Ha’alotcha: It’s Tough Pairing Things or Tov Parenting”

BS”D By Briah Cahana June 5, 2020 In honor of my grandfather, Rabbi Moshe HIllel Cahana, z”l, a civil rights activist who passed away on Shabbat Naso, May 29, 2004 How do we uplift each other in the middle of what feels like a series of chaotic tohu va’vohu moments, caught between a global pandemicContinue reading “Nasso: Who is Fit to be a Leader? Someone Who Knows how to Bless Others”