by RabbiOlivier | Nov 15, 2013 | Adult Learning, Torah Reflections
Vayish’lach Genesis 32:4 – 36:43 Awakening Beyond Silence One of the first revelations that meditation allows is one’s encounter with the unbelievable noise which lies within us, right behind our closed eyes. As if by...
by RabbiOlivier | Nov 8, 2013 | Adult Learning, Torah Reflections
Vayeitzei Genesis 28:10 – 32:3 God Was in This Place There is one verse in this week’s Torah portion which encompasses the entirety of the Kabbalistic endeavor: “Waking from his sleep, Jacob said, ‘Truly, the Eternal is in this place, and I did...
by RabbiOlivier | Nov 1, 2013 | Adult Learning, Torah Reflections
Toledot Genesis 25:19 – 28:9 Breaking Free From The Great Teachers At the opening of our Torah portion, we find Isaac pleading with God, in the presence of his barren wife Rebecca, that she might — after twenty years of waiting...
by RabbiOlivier | Oct 25, 2013 | Adult Learning, Torah Reflections
Chayei Sarah Genesis 23:1 – 25:18 Where Life Hangs by a Thread The cry of the shofar is the tears of Sarah, says a midrash. This midrash comes to fill-in the blank space between the end of last week’s Torah portion and the...
by RabbiOlivier | Oct 18, 2013 | Adult Learning, Torah Reflections
Vayeira Genesis 18:1 – 22:24 The Spiritual Aim of Circumcision The subject of circumcision has engendered much controversy over the past few years. Should we or should we not, as a Jewish people, continue to honor this millennia old tradition that is said to...