QUESTION: Will Jewish denominations survive the pandemic? Should they survive? What would American Judaism be without denominations? ANSWER: Denominations will survive – but what should they mean in the emerging digital world of porous and flexible identity? If that question was heretical before, current events force it forward now. Judaism always has flowed in streams… Continue reading On Denominations Post-Pandemic – for the Forward
Author: velveteenrabbi
R. Rachel Barenblat has been blogging as the Velveteen Rabbi since 2002.
“Silent” Tribute to the Dead of Covid-19
“Silent” Tribute to the Dead of Covid-19 A D’var Torah for Parashat Shemini By Rabbi David Markus Spiritually speaking, what should we say amidst 120,000 covid-19 deaths? Surely there must be something we should say, some right response – right? If these questions land a gut punch, if they rouse gnawing emptiness, if they jumble emotions and singe the… Continue reading “Silent” Tribute to the Dead of Covid-19
What Torah Doesn’t Say
Sometimes it’s what Torah doesn’t say. Listen to Torah’s silence and she might reveal whole new worlds just waiting for you to hear them into being. With this week’s Parashat Terumah, Torah begins describing how Moses, Betzalel and their team will build the Mishkan. Chapter after detailed chapter, Torah specifies the metals, fabrics, dimensions, shapes, colors… Continue reading What Torah Doesn’t Say
Live Like You’re Dying
Parashat Vayehi 5780 A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayehi By Rabbi David Markus This last Torah portion of the Book of Genesis (Vayeḥi) concludes the drama of Jacob, Joseph and his brothers. The dramatic saga – their troubled family dynamics, power and power inversions, regret, guilt, fear, their very lives – it all finally reaches a settled… Continue reading Live Like You’re Dying
Parking lot angels, intercessory prayer, and being real
Parashat Hayei Sarah A D’var Torah for Parashat Hayei Sarah By Rabbi David MarkusI stopped counting how often I hear, “God loves me: I got a great parking spot.” Even some clergy, spiritual directors and theologians have a soft spot for the Angel of Miraculous Parking. I too admit to invoking Hanayat-El (from hanayah / ”parking”) under my breath.… Continue reading Parking lot angels, intercessory prayer, and being real
Yom Kippur 5780: Waking Up In Hospice
Gut yuntif. From my soul to yours, may this year’s next turning of soul be for a year of true goodness and deep meaning for us all. As some of you know, I spent Independence Day weekend in the hospital. It turned out to be mostly needless drama: thankfully, I’m fine. When I woke up in the… Continue reading Yom Kippur 5780: Waking Up In Hospice
Making sense of spiritual lag
Rosh Hashanah brings a spiritual lag between the year’s reboot and Torah’s reboot, like our northern latitude’s seasonal lag between sun angle and temperature. This spiritual lag raises two questions. First, shouldn’t Rosh Hashanah, which recalls the Yom Harat Olam (Creation’s birthday) of Genesis 1, therefore also be Simhat Torah to reboot the Torah cycle at the same… Continue reading Making sense of spiritual lag
The Soul of Action: The Risks We Must Take
Shanah tovah! Welcome, all you beautiful souls, to our year 5780 – may it be sweet and full of goodness. Tonight we come together to reaffirm Jewish life – for community, continuity and comfort. We come together to make common cause in our world of awesome beauty and, yes, also some tragic brokenness. In 1776, patriot Thomas Paine… Continue reading The Soul of Action: The Risks We Must Take
Things That Can’t Be Forgiven?
"Are there things that can't be forgiven?" Jewish law deemed some acts so heinous that only death atoned – and then only with repentance (Yoma 86a; Hilchot Teshuvah 1:1). And even with repentance, how can we absolve genocide, murder, sex crimes, child abuse and life-destroying lies? But "forgiveness" isn’t absolution. We can “forgive” even the… Continue reading Things That Can’t Be Forgiven?
Looking for Love in All the Rough Places
A D’var Torah for Parashat Va’ethanan By Rabbi David Markus It’s fitting that the “Jewish greatest hits” of Parashat Va’ethanan come immediately after Tisha b’Av. After our spiritual calendar’s lowest day, Torah promises that anyone who seeks God with whole heart and soul will find God exactly where we are – even in exile (Deut. 4:27-29). We stand again… Continue reading Looking for Love in All the Rough Places
How to Scout Your Landscape – P. Shlakh
Part of a yearlong Torah series on spiritual building and builders in Jewish life. Okay, you’re ready for spiritual building. As with a survey before building with a physical structure, first survey the landscape. How? Parshat Shlach asks that question directly, and some of our spiritual ancestors’ first answers went tragically wrong. Their lessons – about who… Continue reading How to Scout Your Landscape – P. Shlakh
Lighting Us Up: Theology, Pluralism and Becoming the Menorah
A D'var Torah for Parashat Beha'alotekha by Rabbi David Markus What does God need of our spirituality, what do we need of it, and how do we know? These questions cast long theological shadows across sacred tradition, and efforts at clarity often generate more heat than light. It’s with those questions in mind that I… Continue reading Lighting Us Up: Theology, Pluralism and Becoming the Menorah
Yom Kippur Asks “Answers” – Not Just “Afflictions”
Yom Kippur Asks “Answers” – Not Just “Afflictions” A D’var Torah for Parashat Acharei Mot By Rabbi David Markus This week’s parashah (Acharei Mot) brings Torah’s first mention of Yom Kippur (#sorry), so each year this parashah starts me thinking about the High Holy Days (#notsorry). Each year, I recall how three words in this parashah once drove me from Judaism.… Continue reading Yom Kippur Asks “Answers” – Not Just “Afflictions”
Why This Firstborn Will Go Silent Before Passover: The Social Justice Ta’anit Dibbur
Among Passover’s many customs, the fast of the firstborn (ta’anit bechorot) fell into disuse. This ritual fast, commemorating Egypt’s victims of the Tenth Plague’s death of the firstborn, finds little traction among modern liberal Jews. Even most traditionalists arrange a ritual joyous reason to avoid the pre-Passover fast. The day before Passover, however, this particular firstborn of Israel… Continue reading Why This Firstborn Will Go Silent Before Passover: The Social Justice Ta’anit Dibbur
Holy Ashes: Designs for Spiritual Flow
Part of a yearlong series of Torah wisdom on spiritual building and builders. How well does a spiritual practice or spiritual community “work”? One answer from this week’s Torah portion (Tzav) may seem surprising: We gauge what works spiritually by the detritus it leaves behind from what it transforms. If there’s no detritus, we’re doing… Continue reading Holy Ashes: Designs for Spiritual Flow
Controlling the High Price of Judaism (and Guilt)
Controlling the High Price of Judaism (and Guilt) A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayikra By Rabbi David Markus The Jewish value of tzedakah underscores that to “be Jewish” is partly to “do Jewish,” and to “do Jewish” means to support others. That’s one reason that Judaism calls for tzedakah as charitable acts of support for others that double as communal… Continue reading Controlling the High Price of Judaism (and Guilt)
People of the Building Fund
Part of a yearlong Torah series about building and builders in Jewish spiritual life. “Don’t give to the Building Fund,” said no synagogue leader ever. Most community leaders would love to have Moses’ problem in “fundraising” for the Mishkan. Moses received so many resources from “everyone” to build Mishkan that he had to stop them… Continue reading People of the Building Fund
Jewish Ethics Demands Independent Path Forward
Jewish clergy, seminaries, day schools and other nonprofits must not govern their own ethics systems. Most lack sufficient expertise and independence to earn and keep public trust in their capacity to self-regulate. This conclusion comes hard to me. As a pulpit rabbi with a dual career in law and governance — and as past general… Continue reading Jewish Ethics Demands Independent Path Forward
Building for Mobility: Spiritual Life on the Move
Part of a yearlong series on Torah’s wisdom about building and builders in Jewish spiritual life. So far, Builders Blog traced Torah’s first 18 portions, harvesting lessons about spiritual building from our spiritual ancestors’ lives and early journeys. Now in the 19th portion (Terumah) comes Torah’s building story par excellence, about building the Mishkan – the holy structure to… Continue reading Building for Mobility: Spiritual Life on the Move
Seeing the Voices: The Call of Teaching in Spiritual Formation
ACADEMY FOR JEWISH RELIGION Faculty Meeting Dvar Torah January 24, 2019 Good morning everyone. I'm delighted to join the AJR family. Thank you to Ora for the invitation to teach, and to Jeff for inviting me to open with my long experience of one whole day on the AJR Faculty. We're in Parshat Yitro. Our… Continue reading Seeing the Voices: The Call of Teaching in Spiritual Formation
David Evan Markus 