The flora and fauna at my house are very, very alive. There are many personalities crowding around our house, and under our house, and sometimes in our house. Each has its own Torah. Each has its unintended teaching for me.
Read moreMt. Meron, Zohar, and Us
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai died and was buried on Mt. Meron, having instructed his disciples to visit his grave and celebrate his memory annually. Which is what was happening yesterday, because the number of his disciples has grown, no longer ten, but tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and includes all of those people who were there, just as it includes us as well.
Read moreShechinah, at the Art Institute (Encore)
I ran into the Shechinah in an art museum. It was the Art Institute of Chicago. Maybe not the way it is now, but the way it was when I was a kid. She was in one of the Impressionist rooms. In front of Seurat's Sunday Afternoon on the Isle of la Grande Jatte.
Read moreSwoon of Shechinah
Esther Before Ahasuerus, by Artemisia Gentileschi, ca. 1630.
Unlike some depictions, Esther had no need to swoon when she entered Achashverosh's throne room. After all, she was garbed in Shechinah.
Read moreRobed in Malkhut: The Hidden and Revealed in Esther (and Us)
Esther reveals as much as she conceals. Take this drag queen’s word for it. (A piece written for Evolve.)