Sublime

Liberal rabbis often become sacred social workers, mainly focused on pastoral and lifecycle moments in their communities.

One uniquely Jewish approach to Torah is midrash—the imaginative process of interpreting the Bible. A variant of the Hebrew word for “search out,” midrash is not a single book but an entire literature that supplies answers to questions that the Bible does not answer, such as “Why did Cain kill Abel?” Studying midrash opens Jewish texts in wonderful

the power of Judaism is clear to those truly engaged in its complex struggles and searchings for truth and divinity. Instead of focusing on new ideas, the Jewish community would be better served by connecting to the original “big ideas” of our heritage: Torah, avodah, and gemilut hasadim,

was reluctant to give up my love of art and literature, music and poetry, most of which had been created by non-Jews and had nothing to do with Judaism.

When communities exceed a certain size and inter-personal relationships within the community become overly thin, the urge to seek grounds for splitting becomes irresistible.

Judaism’s most important single teaching is that each human being is created in the image of God.

Mordechai Berkowitz, a blacksmith, established a workshop