Another Day
Another Day

In this d’var Torah, I’m about to share a pretty personal story with you. Most of the time, when we donate blood, or volunteer, or help someone who plans to give remember to stay hydrated, or advocate for science-informed and inclusive donor eligibility policy, the person whose life we are sustaining on the other side of that donation is marvelously ordinary. They are probably so scared. We are helping them hold onto their muchness. And maybe that blood will be all they need. Or, more likely, that blood will mix in with the blood of lots of other people, and all together a life gets sustained. Beth Jacob’s Blood Drive this year is next week on Sunday, January 19, from 8:30-2:30. Donate there. Donate somewhere. Volunteer.

Please do consider committing one of your days to helping someone like me have another one.  

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TORAHAmy ArielVayechi, Torah, Blood Drive, blood donation, Beth Jacob, Red CrossComment
Making Miracles
Making Miracles

Chanukah Shall we start with the brass-tacks? The stuff we need to know so anything else makes any kind of sense? For me, the miracle of the oil is that beyond all reason, they decided to light it. They rededicated the Temple because there was enough for today. They were enough for today. What a miracle it is when we can take a breath and remember that we are enough. We are enough in this day. And in this day we dedicate ourselves to bringing all of the light and joy and hope and justice and peace and love to the world that we can. T

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TORAHAmy ArielChanukah, Hanukah, Hannukah, Hanukkah, Chanukkah Comment
HARVESTS OF THE HEART:
 LOVING OUR NEIGHBORS AND WELCOMING THE STRANGERS
HARVESTS OF THE HEART:
 LOVING OUR NEIGHBORS AND WELCOMING THE STRANGERS

Imagine! While Miguel and I shared this d’var Torah on the bima at Mount Zion Temple in Saint Paul, back in Honduras Sindy was delivering her baby - the little pumpkin in this picture. As soon as we’d finished speaking, Miguel rushed to the lobby where he got on the phone with Viktor who shouted with joy, “It’s done!” And mama and baby were both doing great. Welcome to the world, little one! When we learn his name in the days or weeks ahead (in Honduras, many people wait to name their babies to see if they will survive.) I’ll be sure to share it here.

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Jewish Holidays, TORAHAmy ArielLove is boss, Honduras, Torah, Sukkot, Loving our neighbors, love your neighbor Comments
Our First Bris of 2019!
Our First Bris of 2019!

One of the great gifts of having been a Jewish educator and youth worker for decades is that many of my ‘kids’ have grown up. This past week, I had the absolute delight to study Torah with the next generation of my ‘kids’ hours after he arrived. Today, I also had the privilege to officiate at his bris and share his name with him, his family, and his community.

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Bris, TORAHAmy Arielbris, naming, Shmot Comments
The Heart of Heaven
The Heart of Heaven

V’etchanan
Deuteronomy 3:23 - 7:11

When we form a covenantal relationship, some kind of mystery happens and even as we retain our own identities, we also form something new that only exists within that relationship. In that relationship, perhaps we reside in the leiv hashamayim– in the interior, the center, of the expanse. The heart of the heavens. 

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TORAH, Jewish HolidaysAmy ArielLev, v'etchanan, torah, tu b'av, hashamayim, wedding, wed, love, chuppah, DeuteronomyComment
Our Brother's Keepers
Our Brother's Keepers

CHUKAT NUMBERS 19:1 – 22:1

We thought that when God said, “It is not good for human beings to be alone,” (Genesis 2:18) God responded by creating a couple. What the Karen people understand, and we would do well to learn, is that God didn’t stop with that couple. God created us to be family.

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TORAHAmy ArielChukat, Torah, Brother's Keepers, Miriam, Miriam's well, Kadesh, immigration, parents separated from children, border, Karen, family Comments
I Wanna Hold Your Hand
I Wanna Hold Your Hand

BEHA'ALOT'CHA: NUMBERS 8:1 - 12:16

When someone is ill, we go beyond the letter of the law. We find them where they are. We learn what they need and we do something about it. We join them . . . nothing fancy. We just . . . join them. And we reach out with a hand and with others we catch them, or we take on some of their weight. We hold them. El na refa na la.

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TORAHAmy Arielel na refa na la, illness, Torah, Beha'alot'cha, Moses, Miriam, responding to illnessComment
For the Love of a Butterfly
For the Love of a Butterfly

BEHAR - BECHUKOTAI: LEVITICUS 25:1 - 27:34

If we refuse to be alert to the needs of the earth, the earth will refuse to be alert to ours. The wolves also must eat. So must the spiders. And the mosquitoes. And the butterflies. There is a time and place for new understandings of ancient texts. If ever there were such a time, it is now.

*Note: I know that’s not a monarch in that picture!

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TORAHAmy ArielJewish environmentalism, monarch butterflies, behar, behukotai, Environmental Defense Fund, milkweed, adopt a monarch acreComment
Patterns
Patterns

ACHREI MOT & KEDOSHIM (Leviticus 16:1 - 20:27)

Everything we have ever been as a people informs who we are and who we will become, but it isn’t predictive. We aren’t made to be predictable. We are created b’tzelem Elohim, in the image of God, holy because God is holy, made to be . . . creative. We hold our tradition and our traditions close, but we have also survived because we have embraced changes.  

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TORAHAmy ArielAchrei Mot, Kedoshim, patterns, atonement, the pattern problem, Leviticus 18:22, honor your parents Comment