“Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to Him, ‘Rabboni!’ (which is to say, Teacher).” — John 20:16, NKJV Seven. Before it is a number it is a structure. Seven days and creation is complete—not merely finished but whole, the seventh day itself the completion that gives meaning to the six that preceded it. Seven
The One Who Stayed Read More »
The Mishkan has no windows. The menorah is not there to help anyone see. Inside a windowless tent, in perpetual shadow, stands a lamp that faces away from every human being who might need its light. Its seven flames are directed inward—toward the central shaft, toward the Parochet, the curtain that screens the Holy of Holies,
Parashat Beha’alotcha Read More »
The snake did not merely tempt Eve. It left something behind. What passed between the serpent and the woman in the Garden was not only a conversation. It was a transaction—and the serpent did not leave empty-handed. Something remained after the encounter: a contamination, a residue, a film deposited into the channel between the human
The Pall and the Corruption Read More »
“Then Jesus answered and said to her, ‘O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.’ And her daughter was healed from that very hour.” — Matthew 15:28, NKJV She had no claim. By every measure the first century world recognized, she stood outside the circle of covenant, outside the tradition, outside
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Even though each of them presented an identical offering, they offered it regarding significant matters, and each and every one presented according to his perspective. —Bamidbar Rabbah 13:14 Numbers 7 is the longest chapter in the Torah. It is also, by almost any measure, the most repetitive. Twelve tribal princes bring offerings to dedicate the
Parashat Naso Revisited Read More »
On the first day, Naḥshon son of Amminadab of the tribe of Judah presented his offering: one silver bowl weighing 130 shekels and one silver basin of 70 shekels by the sanctuary weight, both filled with choice flour with oil mixed in, for a grain offering; one gold ladle of 10 shekels, filled with incense…
A name. In the beginning, before light, before the separation of waters, before breath enters dust—there is the word. And the word names. G‑d names the light. G‑d names the darkness. G‑d names the waters and the dry land. He brings every living creature to Adam, and whatever Adam calls them, that is their name—the
“En archē ēn ho Logos.” In the beginning was the Word. — John 1:1, NKJV The entire story of creation begins with just that: spoken into existence. In Genesis 1, G‑d does not gesture, does not craft with hands. He speaks. Yehi or—let there be light—and there is light. The Word is not descriptive; it is generative. It does
The forty-ninth day ends. For seven weeks the counting has moved through the lower sefirot—each day a rung, each week a deeper register of interiority, the soul examined in its capacity for love, for discipline, for endurance, for humility. The Omer is a descent with a purpose: to arrive somewhere ready. And then the fiftieth day
The Night We Stay Awake Read More »
The series began with a question the self could not hear beneath the noise of its own life. It moved through the collapse of ordinary meaning, the cry of longing made audible, the dark night that strips what cannot bear weight, the anatomy of despair and the leap, and the honest refusals of minds who
The Practice of the Paddle Read More »
