Parashat Chukat 9th and 10th of Tammuz, 5776; July 15 and 17, 2016 – This week’s Torah portion Chukat (Numbers 19:1 to 21:1) is a rich trove of paradoxical challenges. Understanding this Torah portion led our sages into new depths of textual and conceptual ingenuity. At the center of this Torah portion is the arational ritual of […]
Difficult, Diffident Desert Leadership – Winning the hearts and minds?
24th June, 2016/18 Sivan 5776 Moses is confronted by the mob: “If only we had meat to eat!” (Numbers 11:4). This demand comes a little over two years into their sojourn out of slavery. They were encamped at the foot of Mount Sinai until very recently. The journey was recently resumed and the challenges appear. […]
New Prayer Group Open in the Center of Warsaw Called Beit Centrum Ki Tov
The opening of prayer group on the first of the Hebrew month of Nissan (April 8, 2016) was accompanied by a visit from both our former Rabbi, Gil Nativ and our current Rabbi, Boris Dolin. The new prayer group is located on Nowogrocka Street near all the trains, buses, and trams. For years Beit Polska activists have […]
Between Purim and Passover — Chaos and Order – A New Aspiration for Holiness in Our Time – Part 2
April 1st, 2016/22 Adar II 5776 Shemini Purim marks chaos. Everything is upside down: from the costumes; to the three cornered cookies; to Esther’s strange role; to the strategies for addressing threat; to the noise makers (graggors in Yiddish or Ra’ashanim in Hebrew) for blotting out the name of Haman (Evil). But as we move toward the Passover Seder […]