October 9, 2026/28 Tishrei 5787/Shabbat Bereishit  Hevre/Friends, When I was a little girl, one of my mother's favorite songs to sing to me was Yehoram Gaon's Ani Mavtiach Lach. "I promise you, my little girl, that this will be the last war…" The de facto anthem of the Yom Kippur War of 1973, it carried the pledge of a country shaken from the lull of its Six Day War victory back into the knowledge of its very real vulnerability: a promise to its young that things would chan

October 2, 2026/21 Tishrei 5787/Erev Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah Hevre/friends, This week I witnessed one of the most important conversations of our time. Over forty people, from their twenties to their nineties, gathered for our Wisdom of the Elders evening which I proudly co-lead with my friend and Jewish community leader, Donna Friedman Meir. It was Sukkot, the season of ushpizin, when we invite our ancestors into the sukkah to share their Torah and rejoice with us. S

September 25, 2026/15 Tishrei 5787/Erev Sukkot Hevre/Friends, Moments after we break our fast with the first sips of water and bites of honey cake or bagels and lox, whatever our family tradition, we're meant to hammer the first nail or raise the first pole of our sukkah. Not a moment is wasted. If Yom Kippur teaches us how fragile life is, the sukkah teaches us to search for joy, and to find it, even amid vulnerability and uncertainty. This year my first step in building our

August 28, 2026/15 Elul 5786/Shabbat Ki Tavo Hevre/Friends, In this week’s portion of Ki Tavo we read how the very first thing the Israelites were to do upon entering the land was to bring an offering of bikkurim/first fruits in gratitude for returning home; a simple ritual of “thank you” for the gift of a new beginning. While Rosh Hashanah, our annual festival of renewal, is around the corner, dramatic new beginnings occur every 24 hours. Whats the first thing you do when

August 21, 2026/8 Elul 5786/Shabbat Ki Tetze לֹא־יִהְיֶ֤ה כְלִי־גֶ֙בֶר֙ עַל־אִשָּׁ֔ה וְלֹא־יִלְבַּ֥שׁ גֶּ֖בֶר שִׂמְלַ֣ת אִשָּׁ֑ה כִּ֧י תוֹעֲבַ֛ת יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ כּל־עֹ֥שֵׂה אֵֽלֶּה׃ A woman must not put on man’s apparel, nor shall a man wear woman’s clothing; for whoever does these things is abhorrent to God. (Parashat Ki Tetze, Deut 22:5) Hevre/Friends, Apparently boyfriend jeans were not a big seller at the Gap tent in the ancient shuk. Or maybe they sold too well. Ma

August 7, 2026/24 Av 5786/Shabbat Re'eh Hevre/Friends, Just when we're feeling afraid and powerless - corrupt politics, raging wildfires, relentless and violent antisemitism - our Torah portion, Re'eh, arrives to remind us that we have power. Lots of it. Listen to the opening words: Check it out, says God. Today I'm placing before you blessing and curse. Listen and do right, and you'll be blessed. Turn insolent and disloyal, and you'll be cursed. The decision is yours. Choose

July 31, 2026/17 Av 5786/Shabbat Eikev Hevre/Friends, Here we are in Deuteronomy with Moses giving his book-length retirement speech on the eastern bank of the Jordan River. How many words do you think his speech took to last an entire biblical book? It spans some 13,000 Hebrew words; about 24,000 in English. So much for Moses describing himself in Exodus as "a man of few words"? FYI, while everyone likes to make fun of rabbis for speaking too long, my messages each week run

July 24, 2026/10 Av 5786/Shabbat Va'Etchanan/Shabbat Nachamu Hevre/Friends, Welcome to the season of Jewish guilt! It began three weeks ago with the fast of the 17th of Tamuz, marking the day the Romans breached the walls of Jerusalem on their way to destroying the second Temple. That launched us into the "Three Weeks" of mourning restrictions: no live music, no haircuts, no weddings or B-Mitzvah celebrations (aka kosher caterers vacation). By the first of Av the mourning

July 17, 2026/3 Av 5786/Shabbat Devarim/Shabbat Chazon Hevre/Friends, Ever notice how eloquent you are in the shower? You finally have it out with your boss/spouse/child/friend and say what you've been wanting to say for so long: a perfectly balanced, articulate, reasoned presentation of your feelings and your perspective. Except they're not there to hear it. It's amazing how gifted and confident we all are as orators. When it matters least. Our ancient ancestors were n

July 10, 2026/25 Tamuz 5786/Shabbat Matot-Masei Hevre/Friends, Want to combat antisemitism? Here’s one recipe: Make a beautiful Shabbat lunch. Invite your whole family - in its full diversity. Keep a seat for someone who knows nothing about Jews except for what they read online or see on the street. Be your kind and gracious selves. Mix and observe. My mother and Sherry finally made it up north for the summer and we contracted a local caregiver to help my mother with her dimi

July 3, 2026/18 Tamuz 5786/Shabbat Pinchas Hevre/Friends, The human mind is trained to identify what's missing in a given image — an incomplete line, say, or a fragmented face — and to fill it in with imagined content so as to perceive the picture as whole. Think of the IBM logo, or the World Wildlife Fund panda. Psychologists call it the Gestalt principle of closure. On this auspicious weekend, bridging Canada Day (this past Wednesday) and America's 250th birthday, there

June 26, 2026/11 Tamuz 5786/Shabbat Chukat-Balak Hevre/Friends, I only lost him once when I failed to signal emphatically enough. And I only once caused him to crash into a barrier by skiing too close to it. Overall, it was a great day! For those of you who have been privileged to meet my step-son-in-law, Eitan, you know exactly who I mean. Legally blind following a devastating diagnosis of Retinitis Pigmentosa while serving as a lone soldier in the IDF more than ten years ag

June 19, 2026/4 Tamuz 5786/Shabbat Korach Hevre/Friends, Pride month. A time to celebrate. Diversity. Dignity. Freedom. All the more so this year, as the LGBTQ+ community continues to face rollbacks of hard-won freedoms. While trans people have been rendered the most vulnerable legally, medically, and socially, gays and lesbians are seeing workplace protections challenged and the stability of marriage equality grow more uncertain. Against this backdrop, an op-ed appea

June 12, 2026/27 Sivan 5786/Shabbat Sh'lach Hevre/Friends, Hallo from Berlin! Being in Berlin a second time creates a certain awkwardness for Andi and me. When we led a Rabbi on the Road trip here in 2014, our days were filled touring the major sites that testify to the thriving Jewish community that once flourished here — and to the murderous Nazi regime that destroyed it. We also met locals building what was then considered the world's fastest-growing Jewish community. Retu

June 5, 2026/20 Sivan 5786/Shabbat Beha'alotcha Hevre/Friends, As most of you know, travel lives at the heart of my mission — both physical and spiritual. Leaving one place to explore another, encountering new ideas, (re)connecting with different people, and returning transformed in our self-understanding: that's the essence of my own life's journey, and the ones I'm honoured to curate for others through Rabbi on the Road. But travel happens in so many different ways. I’m

May 29, 2026/13 Sivan 5786/Shabbat Naso Hevre/Friends, Whenever we have new guests at our Shabbat table, a question inevitably arises about the unusual shape of our family kiddush cup. (Cue the eye-rolling from our children, who have heard this story more times than they care to count.) A typical kiddush cup is cylindrical, requiring your fingers to curl around it as you lift and pass it for each person to sip. Ours — pictured below — is shaped more like a saucer, or a classi

Shavuot 2026/5786 Hevre/Friends, If you're following me on Instagram — and I really hope you are! — you'll have seen my two videos exploring why the Torah was given on a mountaintop rather than in a lush valley, or on the shores of a beautiful lake or sea. In them, I talked about the hard work of searching for the insights and wisdom, the truths and values that give our lives meaning and purpose — and how that search so often feels like an upward climb. About the courage we n

Friday May 15 2026/28 Iyyar 5786 Hevre/Friends, I read it. I panicked. I searched frantically for clarification. I fumed. I cried. The accusations of systematic rape and sexual abuse — including the use of dogs — in Israeli prisons, published in a New York Times Op-Ed by Nicholas Kristof this past Monday, were shocking, disorienting, and horrifying. Coupled with growing global — and Jewish — outrage over the violent actions of Hilltop Youth settlers against Palestinians

Friday May 8 2026/21 Iyyar 5786 Hevre/Friends/Amici, Of all the things I wish I could have packed for our Rabbi on the Road journey to Sicily and Calabria, it is our innocence I missed most—the days of wandering Italy concerned only with where to find our next gelato once the pasta had settled. Our travels were filled with breathtaking vistas, charming towns, extraordinary meals, deep conversation, daily learning, spirited Shabbat prayer, abundant laughter, and genuine ca

Friday May 1, 2026/14 Iyyar 5786 Hevre/Friends/Amici, Ciao dalla Sicilia! Hello from Sicily! Our Rabbi on the Road adventure has been filled with stunning landscapes, fascinating sites, and—let’s be honest—way too much gelato. Actually, there’s no such thing as too much gelato… Our group of 27 travelers and 4 staff is exploring Sicily through Jewish eyes, immersing ourselves in travel as a spiritual practice. After all, travel is a deeply authentic Jewish act. As Diane Ti