By Chaim Spaulding, Hebrew College Rabbinical Student Parashat Vayetze (Genesis 28:10–32:3) Last winter, I went to my grandfather’s funeral, and afterwards, my living family and I took a trip to Death Valley. Grieving my grandfather, I felt keenly aware of my own mortality and my loved ones’ mortality. The magnificence of Death Valley only exists because of the instability of tectonic plates in motion over the course of millions of years. Standing on the floor of the valley, with rain... Read more
Our Spiritual Legacy: Torah, Lovingkindness, Struggle, Uncertainty
By Rabbi Becky Silverstein Parashat Vayishlach (Genesis 32:4-36:43) Lately, I’ve been thinking about the saying, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” I find myself wondering: How many baskets should you have? Will you be carrying the eggs or storing them? Are these real eggs and baskets or metaphorical ones? And in any event, what is your goal? When does it make sense to heed this wisdom and separate our eggs, and when might we need to put all... Read more