• Lessons of the Three Weeks for a Polarized World

    Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem. This coming week, with the fast of the 17th of Tamuz, begins the Three Weeks of mourning for the destruction of the Temple and the exile. The Talmud tells us that destruction comes to the Jewish people when they are divided, when there is hatred among us. This turns out to…

  • Beyond Doctrine: Embracing All Jews as Family

    We now feel separated and divided, but in many ways we are more unified. Families who never made the effort to get together are now uniting over Zoom.   Here at Kesher Israel each week we have been asking our members to teach as part of the new Voices of Kesher program -an opportunity to…

  • The Balance We Must Uphold as a People

    This Sunday we will observe the fast day of the 17th of Tammuz, which commemorates the siege of Jerusalem leading to the destruction of the Temple.  The Talmud says that the Temple was destroyed due to baseless hatred among Jews.  This is hard to avoid, for as one great thinker said, “We see anyone more…

  • Understanding Bilam’s Spiritual Failure

    In this week’s parsha, Balak, Balak the king of Moav realizes he will not be able to defeat the Jewish people in war and that he must reckon with them on a spiritual level.  He hires Billam, a Midianite prophet, to curse the Jews.   Bilam tells God about the Jewish people, that they came…