It was sad news to receive, coming out of Shabbos, that Rabbi Sacks had passed away. It is a loss for the world. I was a latecomer to Rabbi Sacks’ – I was only introduced to his Torah a couple years ago, at most. But even though my knowledge of his greatness was relatively shallow,… Continue reading Remembering Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks
“Naaseh v’Nishma” -Am Yisrael There’s a famous midrash that talks about how G-d went to all the nations of the world and offered them the Torah, and they all asked, “well, what’s in it?” This seems like a reasonable reaction, right? You should read a contract before you sign it. But after they found out… Continue reading All In
“Shavuot … is a calling to bring transcendence and spirituality into this world. We don’t aim to escape this world, we aim to transform it.” Rabbi Shmuel Reichman One of the things that most appealed to me when I was first learning about Judaism was the way it touched every aspect of life. Something as commonplace as… Continue reading Why My Laundry Is Holy
“Man should rather jump into a fiery furnace than offend another in public.” -Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai Today is Lag B’Omer. Bonfires, bows and arrows, music (MUSIC!), haircuts, weddings, celebration. This is the day that the students of Rabbi Akiva stopped dying in the plague. Today is the yahrzeit of the Rashbi, Rabbi Shimon Bar… Continue reading Rabbi Shimon’s Good Advice
It’s less than a month before Pesach and instead of preparing for this exciting and labor-intensive holiday, I am preparing for some exciting and labor-intensive home-schooling. That’s right, school is out for at least the next five weeks, and my five kids are all home with me, and instead of buying matzah, I’m stocking up… Continue reading Silver Linings of COVID-19 Break
Hello hello hello my friends! I don’t even know where to start. I am so excited about the things I have to share with you today. First of all, I just came back from the most amazing retreat, the Project Inspire Retreat For The Body And Soul (remember I told you I was going to… Continue reading So Many Things To Tell You
Yesterday the “fuel level low” notice popped up on my dashboard. Despite my love of organization and type-A personality, I more often than not let my gas get all the way down to practically empty before I fill it back up. It’s just so easy for me to be busy busy busy and not take… Continue reading Filling Up My Spiritual Gas Tank
If you do a topic search on my blog (try: Torah) you’ll see a lot of the same themes over and over again. Some of my favorite mitzvos are the ones that govern our interactions with others, both in action and in thought. The following are a sampling of times I’ve explicitly written about these… Continue reading Stop Confusing Poor Choices With Righteous Behavior
When Rivka Malka Perlman asked if I would help spread the word about the upcoming Redemption Retreat, I was all for it. I didn’t know that much about the retreat, but on the surface it seemed like a very nice thing. Well, just watching this five-minute video by Rivka Malka as she gives some background to… Continue reading Need To Recharge? Go To The Redemption Retreat!
Let’s start off the year (the Gregorian year, whatever, you know what I mean) with some interesting links, a review, and a giveaway! Not in that order, though.
Rivki Silver ~ thoughts & music 