IRON SHARPENS IRON
Proverbs 27.17 – As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. I recently purchased the knife sharpening set pictured above. It is a set of different stones with different grits. One uses grit stones to “sharpen,” so I wanted to look at this verse more closely. Here is what a little research tells me. The proverb […]
TRAGIC IRONY
History overflows with tragic ironies, where gatekeepers of truth are misjudged and pay a terrible price for their essential pivot role. Compounding the tragic irony is that they’re seldom around to receive proper credit for how they shaped history. Secular Examples of Misjudged Vision Socrates, condemned by Athens’ wisest for “corrupting youth,” spoke truths about […]
SHEVAT AND ADAR — ROLLING TOGETHER TIME, RELIGION, POLITICS AND LIFE
I was asked to write the Jewish Federation board blog for February issue of our newspaper, The Voice. This is roughly what I will be submitting. ———– February begins with the holiday of Tu B’Shevat, the “New Year for Trees,” on February 2nd. Then, on the 17th, with Rosh Chodesh, we roll into the Hebrew month of Adar, […]
KAVOD — THE LORD IS NOT TO BE TAKEN LIGHTLY
Psalm 29.9—The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare, and in his temple all cry, “Glory (Kavod)!” This Post is Heavy Kavod (כָּבוֹד) is the Hebrew word primarily meaning “glory,” “honor,” or “weight.” Kaved and kavod share the same Hebrew root כ-ב-ד (k-b-d), linking concepts of weight and […]
CRYING DOESN’T COME EASY
I have trouble crying. Decades ago I discussed this with a psychologist. I wanted to cry, to release, but it wasn’t happening. Some things could make me cry — like a beautiful touching story about an animal that rescued someone. I remember crying myself to sleep when I was 14 years old the night my […]
JEWS ARE OCCUPIERS
LET’S GO BACK ~2000 YEARS What did Jesus call the area some say is “occupied” by Jews? ACTS 1:8—But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” In this scripture verse […]
LOVE IS A BRIDGE
Love is a bridge that connects us to our soul, to one another, and to God. Deuteronomy 7:7-8—It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath […]
LOVING, LONGING, LOVING
I am writing this to you, my friends. Life is fragile. Relationships are too. Time moves on. We do not know how long we have, together and then distant, blessed even to be a memory. There’s a tenderness in recognizing fragility—not as something to fear, but as something that makes each moment precious. The temporary […]
Jerusalem, Jerusalem
Matthew 23:37 reads: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.” Luke 13:34 is nearly the same cry, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone […]
SAGE OR PROPHET
What Christmas would be complete without considering Daniel’s prophecy concerning the Messiah. Especially on the 8th day of Hanukkah! A person’s title can have a giant affect on how they are perceived and the authority they are granted. One of the greatest and most profound examples of this has to do with famous bible figure […]