“Being the child of two Holocaust Survivors, it is extremely important to me that families have comforting funeral services for their loved ones. I realize this is a calling for me,” writes Charlene Brooks Clinkman, recipient of the 2017-2018 Hebrew Seminary Rabbi Dr. Douglas Goldhamer Scholarship Award. Student Rabbi Charlene is a cantorial soloist and professional singer. She also uses sign language to accompany […]
Rabbi Goldhamer can you teach us more about the month of Elul? You have referred to this month as the most powerfully charged spiritual month of the Hebrew calendar.
Elul began on August 23rd this year. The Mishnah B’rura (a “clear” or simple version of the Jewish law book Shulchan Aruck) states that Song of Songs 6:3 is, according to the Rabbis, the most important […]
This week we begin to read the first and only book of the Chumash that it is written in first person. Moses had so surrendered his ego to the Divine that his words were also God’s words, explain the commentators of this week’s parsha Devarim.
“Moses’ utter identification with the divine wisdom empowers our own lesser souls, each of which possesses ‘a spark of the […]
After not seeing any movies all spring, my husband and I have been to four movies in as many weeks. What a treat! Tucked within the barrage of predominately action, adventure and horror previews is a trailer for Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” sequel. While he would eschew the comparison, I thought of former Vice President Gore’s perseverance when I read this week’s Haftarah […]
By Rabbi Dr. Douglas Goldhamer
Alef Meditation #2
SO THAT WE ARE A CHANNEL THROUGH WHICH THE ENERGY OF DIVINITY AND HUMANITY FLOW IN BALANCE.
by Rabbi Dr. Douglas Goldhamer
This week’s Torah portion, Hukkat, is always very traumatic for me. First, we have the death of the great prophetess Miriam, which is described in one sentence, “…and Miriam died there, and was buried there. And there was no water for the congregation…”(Numbers 20:1-2) Later in the same chapter we experience the death of Aaron, “…and Aaron died there in […]
Korach, Numbers 16:01-18:32
In contemporary commentary, Korach is sometimes described as a demagogue. Just as often, Talmud Brachot 58a is quoted: “Just as the faces of people do not exactly resemble one another, so too their opinions do not exactly resemble one another.” In our time, just about everyone, leaders on both sides of the aisle included, can be accused of responding with demagoguery. In […]
How to Identify the Inner I with the Greater I
A meditation taught by Rabbi Dr. Douglas Goldhamer from Healing With God’s Love.
Find a comfortable place and use this room, or part of this room, as your holy sanctuary. You should meditate in the same room every day, as then you will increase the energy in that place. The ancient Kabbalists call such a special […]
Shelach Lecha
By Student Rabbi Dr. Roberta Glick
The Torah portion this week begins with the story of the spies. It ends with the third paragraph of the Shema, perhaps our most well-known prayer. It is this paragraph I am going to focus on because I believe it frames the essence of Judaism: zakar – mindful remembering. This drash was inspired by several teachers, especially Jordan […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Skokie, Illinois, June 7, 2017. You may be familiar with Hebrew trope as the melodies you hear in services, but trope is best known for helping readers understand the texts. Trope brings Torah to today through the use of pauses to break verses into bite-sized phrases and clarify the meaning of Jewish texts. Hebrew Seminary’s summer semester begins June 27th and includes […]