The Ansche Chesed blog is a place where you can find enriching material to read about God, Torah and the Jewish People.
For me, and I suspect for many people, the most moving moment in the Jewish circumcision ritual, the Brit Milah (or more commonly in the Yiddish pronunciation, the Bris) is the moment when the rabbi or the mohel after the circumcision itself says the phrase ze ha-katon, gadol yihiyeh— “may this little one become big.”… Read more »
This summer I have experienced the circle of life. In July, my daughter Ariel and her husband welcomed a little girl, Yael Hodaya, into their family. She is healthy and much loved by her sisters, and all who meet her. In August, my mom, Harriet Fishman, passed away. She was 87 and not in great… Read more »
When I’m hosting an event or leading a service, it’s often hard to drop my guard for long-enough to enjoy the experience myself. As the convener, it’s my job to make sure that everyone else is engaged, and my needs are superfluous. So as a rabbi during the “high season” of Elul and Tishrei, my… Read more »
Lo Hametim halleluyah V’lo kol yirdei dumah Those who have died, those who have gone to the land of the silent cannot praise God. These words from the Hallel have always intrigued me because they communicate a profound philosophical insight. Regardless of one’s belief about the after-life, about souls living on or reuniting somewhere, somehow,… Read more »
There are two concepts that make prayer hard for me, especially around Rosh HaShannah and Yom Kippur. Melech HaOlam: King, Queen, Monarch, Ruler. No matter if you feminize it or neutralize it, this is a tough concept for me. And we say it a lot over Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. GD as King feels… Read more »
