LAUGHTER IS THE LANGUAGE OF THE SOUL
“Laughter is the language of the soul.” Poet Pablo Neruda Suprise: Didn’t See That Coming At the most basic level, we laugh because we are built to respond to surprise, connection, and relief in a very particular way—physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Many researchers note that humor usually involves a “violation” that turns out to be […]
THE ONE AND ONLY DOOR
Genesis 6:14:—“Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.” Could there be a message hidden in the story of Noah’s Ark that is encoded not only in its narrative, but in its language, numerics, and striking singularities? The Torah’s description […]
A LETTER LOOK AT HALLELUJAH
A Letter Look at “Hallelujah” If there is one Hebrew word that almost everyone already knows—and that usually is not even translated—it is “Hallelujah.” The word has traveled through languages, songs, liturgies, and everyday speech almost intact, as if translation would somehow reduce it. Theologians and Hebrew scholars most widely identify Psalm 150 as “the […]
GOOD NEWS OUT OF AN EVIL REPORT
Numbers 13:32— “And they brought up an evil report (דִּבָּה -dibbāh) of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel…” Preface In Hebrew the Bible uses several different words that can be translated as “report,” and they do not all carry the same weight. More common terms, such as שְׁמוּעָה (shemu‘ah, “news, […]
SECOND CHANCES
Introduction This year Tisha B’Av (the 9th day of the month of Av) falls on July 22-23. It is the culmination of a Three Week period that we get the expression “dire straights” from. Tisha B’Av (“the Ninth of Av”) is the saddest day in the Jewish year, commemorating the anniversary date of destruction of […]