Dash of Drash

Live from Krakow - Rabbi Greg Alexander from Cape Town, SA joins his old friend and study partner Rabbi Marc as they reflect on an extraordinary few days of riding and reconnecting following the 60 mile ride from Auschwitz to Krakow, Shabbat in Krakow, Ruah - the Jewish Cultural Festival and so much more!

Recorded on Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day - a complicated day politically, celebrating the capture of Jerusalem in 1967 from Jordan. Inspired by the chorus of Naomi Shemer's song Yerushalayim shel Zahav (Jerusalem of Gold), I wrote a poem called "I am a Violin for all your Songs," read here. May we see peace in Jerusalem in our lifetime!

Rev Pedro and Rabbi Marc continue their 7 part exploration of creation and creativity in this episode about animals, especially dogs and all that they bring us.

In this third episode on creation with Pedro and Marc, we reflect on the theme of darkness and shadow and how it plays into the creative process.

Pedro and Marc delve deeper into creativity focusing on the power of poetry. They each share one of their own poems and someone else's and discuss the rich world of words.

Pedro, a Black pastor, and Marc, a white rabbi are embarking on a creative adventure together, based on their friendship and musings on art, religion, justice and love inspired by the relationship between Rev Martin Luther King Junior and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. As they work on developing a performance piece together, they reflect on the process in 7 episodes, mirroring the 7 days of creation

This is the first Dash of Drash for several months and we hope it brings you joy. As a tribute to the Vietnamese Buddhist teacher of mindfulness and the month of Adar, whose promise is of increased joy and the Chinese New Year, this offering is a reflection of the beauty and complexity of cultivating joy.

I recently revisited a very special place from my childhood called Burnham on Crouch in the County of Essex on the east coast of England. Some very profound reconnecting with the river, the landscape and dear old friends produced these words. Not the usual fodder of A Dash of Drash.

A reflection on entering the Days of Awe and the possibility of returning to the land of our soul. Whatever that means.

I have been pondering how you smile from behind a mask on the trail. I wrote a piece about it shared here, recorded on Lag Baomer where there is much reflection about eyes and mouths. What will happen when we come out of the isolation of our caves?

Today can so easily feel like yesterday and tomorrow, especially right now. Making each day count, imbuing every day with meaning is hard but important. The annual counting ritual of the 49 days of the Omer between two harvest, between redemption and revelation can help us create a daily and deeply personal map for this strange, uncertain journey we are on.

Some reflections as Passover approaches on a very different holiday in the time of COVID19. Can we still have "dayenu" moments?

I stumbled upon a profound meditation practice taught by Reb Zalman about connecting to Divine Breath, which is offered here. These are very difficult and frightening days for most of us as our worlds get smaller and we are confined to our homes. We begin the third book of the Torah this week, Vayikra/Leviticus with its details of animal sacrifices. The first word is written in the Torah with a small alef. This is a time when we need prayer and other spiritual practices to keep us balanced and whole. Let's breathe together and offer whatever ways we can to come close in these diminished moments.

In these frightening, surreal days as our world changes in the face of Covid 19, the language of the moment is social distancing. Of course we have to keep ourselves physical apart to contain this virus, but is that the right language? I offer some reflections on how we might navigate this new moment in our lives and our world.

As we begin the Exodus narratives in the Torah, Reverend Pedro Silva, Minister at the First Congregational Church in Boulder, and a friend and interfaith colleague, in conversation about name, place, freedom and more in honor of the legacy of Rev Martin Luther King, Jr. Here is a link to Pedro's song New Me - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnqLEGRjQeQ&feature=youtu.be

Author, psychotherapist and spiritual leader Rabbi Tirzah Firestone in discussion with Rabbi Marc about ancestral trauma and healing as we end Bereshit/Genesis, the first book of the Torah with its complicated family dynamics. Reb Tirzah's newest book Wounds into Wisdom, Healing Intergenerational Jewish Trauma, was published last year to great acclaim for its compelling insights into these subjects.

In this week's Torah portion, Vayishlach, Jacob wrestles all night long with an angel of God and, in his victory, gets a new name and a new identity - Yisrael - the one who wrestles with God. Wrestling with God can mean so many different things to each of us. In this episode (100!) the focus is on the dynamic tensions that exist in religious and spiritual life.

Greg and Marc started their rabbinical journey together over 20 years ago in London. Rabbi Greg Alexander is rabbi of Temple Israel in Cape Town, South Africa and has just finished a sabbatical with his family in New York City, where Greg and Marc spent time together. In this episode, they reflect on havruta, spiritual friendship, angels, dreams, light and ladders.

This Kol Nidre sermon delves into the selfie culture and how to transcend it, Greatly inspired by Will Storr's book Selfie and Michael Pollan's book How to Change your Mind.

This Rosh HaShanah sermon inspired by Greta Thunberg, Jonathan Safran Foer and others, expresses the urgency of the climate crisis and calls for physical and spiritual action. Since giving the sermon, out community has collectively planted close to 2,000 trees.

This was a Yom Kippur sermon offered as a response to contemporary antisemitism and reflecting on some of my recent journeys.

Recorded live at Camp Ramah in the Rockies, Rabbi Marc is joined by Rabbi Noah Farkas of Valley Beth Shalom in Los Angeles. They reflect on identity, leadership, unique personal gifts and so much more; all inspired by Parshat Hukkat (Numbers 19-22) and the experience of being up at camp.

The space beyond words is no words. Silence. We so need more of it in this chattering world. Natalie Goldberg, author of Writing down the Bones and many other books, teaches writing as spiritual practice. Natalie has been a Zen practitioner and teacher for many years and in this conversation, she reflects on her search to find silence in her own Jewish lineage and how everything is practice, watching the mind.

As well as the Season of Freedom, Passover is also known as the Festival of Spring, and spring is exploding with sensuality as the birds sing and the blossoms bloom and all of this is reflected in the liturgical themes of Pesach.

Communities can be complex because people are complex. It is so easy to judge, to dismiss, even to diagnose others when without the skills, knowledge or right to do so! The Torah readings of Tazria and Metzora (Leviticus chapters 12-15)speak of particular conditions, diseases, symptoms and part of the healing is that the Kohen, the Priest sees the person beyond their affliction. We are all imperfect and need to see each other beyond the blemishes.

Hazan Sabrina Sojourner is a spiritual leader, cantor, activist and writer based in Maryland. The Torah in Vayikra (Leviticus) brings the categories of "Tahor" and "Tamei" often translated as "pure" and "impure." They cannot really be translated and refer to states of being inside and outside. As a Jew of Color, Sabrina reflects on how these terms refer to those on the margins and those inside the camp and how, ultimately, we all belong.

The Zohar is the central work of Kabbalah, Jewish Mysticism and Professor Danny Matt spent 18 years translating it into English. He has also written about a dozen books on Kabbalah and taught all over the world as one of the most renowned scholars on the subject. Danny combines academic knowledge with deep and thoughtful spiritual wisdom and opens up this mystical world. He was a scholar in residence in Boulder and I had the privilege of spending some time with him and having this conversation about Kabbalah

On a writing retreat in Santa Fe with Natalie Goldberg and Rob Wilder, I learned a lot about writing as a spiritual practice and the importance of details. This applies to all forms of creativity, including the construction of the Mishkan (Tabernacle/Sanctuary) in the desert, which begins in this week's parsaha, Terumah (Exodus 25:1-27:19). What does it mean to create? With the help of Natalie Goldberg and the German-American architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, we explore that question.

On a seven hour road trip from Telluride, Colorado to Taos, New Mexico, listening to The Power of Myth with Joseph Campbell in conversation with Bill Moyers, I downloaded some revelations on Revelation at Sinai. How does the power of that myth impact us past, present and future?

Joey Weisenberg is one of the most inspiring voices in the contemporary Jewish music world and is the director of Hadar's Rising Song Institute risingsong.org and author of The Torah of Music. In the week of Shabbat Shirah, the Shabbat of Song, recorded live from then Ohalah Conference, join this amazing conversation about the blues, Jewish music and so much more. As the Israelites cross over the sea on their journey to freedom, they joyfully sing the Song of the Sea and the spontaneous act of singing comes from the journey to liberation.

This conversation was recorded at a very special gathering of rabbis in Vail, Colorado called the Oneg Conference. I am joined by Rabbi Elyse Frishman, editor of Mishkan T'Filah, the Reform Movement's prayer book published in 2007. Reflecting on this week's Parsha, Bo (Exodus 10:1–13:16)we talk about hard and soft hearts, vulnerability and much more.

This week I have been a participant in Hadar Institute's "Singing Communities Intensive." 100s of people gathered together at B'nai Jeshurun in Manhattan to sing, teach, learn and listen led by Joey Weisenberg and other amazing teachers. Rabbi Aviva Richman, a teacher of Talmud at Hadar, integrates heart and song into her teaching and, as we begin The Book of Exodus, we discuss the role of music and song through chaos and into redemption.

The Book of Genesis ends again with Parshat Vayechi, which means "and he lived," but is actually talking about Jacob's death. It is the second parsha in Bereshit whose title refers to life, but tells of death, which invites us to see the life that comes out of death through legacy and memory. This also marks the second anniversary of Dash of Drash! Mazaltov

And Judah approached Joseph - vayifgash alav. These are the opening words of Parshat Vayigash (Genesis 44:18-47:27) and describe a profound moment of encounter that is not just about the intensity of this moment that leads to a breaking of a mask and a reconciliation, but any deep encounter that we have in our lives.

A selection of some spoken word poetry written over the last month in Alabama, Warsaw, Auschwitz, Krakow, Berlin and Prague. Even though the words reflect some darkness, they come with a blessing and hope of Hanukkah light as that festival approaches!

I have had the amazing gift of time in Warsaw, Krakow, Auschwitz, Berlin, Prague and Thereseinstadt in the last couple of weeks. Of course, I have seen absolute horror that defy the imagination, but I have also seen hope and renewal. In Vayishlach (Genesis 32:4-36:43), the Torah describes a reconciliation of Jacob and Esau, but the rabbis are not sure if it is really that.

I visited Auschwitz for the first time last week and am still processing that whole experience, which has left a lasting imprint on me. In Parshat Vayetze (Genesis 28:10 - 32:3), there are several references to HaMakom - the place, which can be any place where we are conscious. Jacob happens upon a "random place" and lays down his head and dreams of a ladder with angels ascending and descending. He awakes and says "manorah hamakom hazeh - how awesome is this place." After many years, wives, children later, he sets off on another journey and is accompanied by angels; they punctuate the journeys. Can angels exist even in Auschwitz?

I had a very powerful week in Montgomery and Birmingham, Alabama. I was part of a delegation of 35 rabbis and other Jewish leaders with T'ruah - A Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, visiting the Legacy Museum and The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, both created by the Equal Justice Initiative. In Parshat Vayera in the Torah, we read the painful story of Akedat Yitzhak, the binding of Isaac. This episode reflects on how this morally problematic story mirrors contemporary issues of racial injustice.

The stories in Genesis are full of depth, mystery and profound lessons for each generation. Parshat Noah begins with the story of the catastrophic flood and ends with tale of The Tower of Babel. Michael Kagan, a friend and teacher in Jerusalem, shares some deep insights on this Babel story its comment on human civilization in a conversation with Rabbi Marc. Apologies if the sound quality is not as good as usual.

This week we begin the Torah over again with Bereshit, Genesis. Adam, the first human, was created on the sixth day, seemingly as the pinnacle of creation before the first Shabbat. The eternal question is whether the creation of humanity was a good thing or not.

Every morning for the month of Elul, leading us into the New Year, it is traditional to blow and hear the shofar whose voice is supposed to wake us up. There is so much meaning and mystery in those sounds. This episode shares a few of them.

It can be hard to feel satisfied in this world that screams at us that we always need more! There is an important relationship between satisfaction and gratitude and the power of blessings. The rabbis of the Talmud invite us to say 100 blessings a day and one of the sources is from this week's Torah portion, Ekev, which says "you will eat, you will feel satisfied and you will bless God for the good land that has been given to you" (Deuteronomy 8:10). We explore the connection between sustenance, appreciation and blessing.

In Parshat Etchanan, the second portion from Devarim, the Book of Deuteronomy, along with the Shema and second version of the Ten Commandments, we are introduced to the concepts of devekut, cleaving to Godliness, and ayn od milvado; there is nothing other than God. Does this mean that if we are spiritual, we transcend all the grossness of our physical world? It means so much more than that.

The third Jonathan from London is Jonathan Boyd who is the Executive Director of the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (http://www.jpr.org.uk) in London. Jon, a good friend, uses statistics wisely and carefully to define trends in the Jewish community. As Tisha b'Av, when we commemorate destruction and loss, approaches, this discussion reflects primarily on what the research shows about antisemitism today.

Towards the end of The Book of Numbers, there is a list of 42 places on the Israelite's journey as they approach their new home. It is reminiscent of the wanderings of refugees, migrants and asylum seekers of which there are some 65 million in our world today. Marc's mentor, teacher and friend Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg of New North London Synagogue, has been an important activist and together they reflect on a Jewish approach to the desperate situations facing immigrants and refugees in our times.

The film maker Jonathan Glazer is Rabbi Marc's oldest friend and for years, they have enjoyed conversations on where art, religion, spirituality and culture meet and diverge. They met at JW3, London's Jewish Community Center, and talked for hours. On the Jewish calendar, we find ourselves in a period of three weeks of mourning as we approach Tisha b'Av, commemorating the destruction of two Temples in Jerusalem and other catastrophes. Among their discussions, Jonathan and Marc talk about destruction, loss and human brutality through the lens of Jonathan's new film project on Auschwitz and our troubling world.

In Parshat Hukkat (Numbers 19:1-22:1), Miriam and Aaron die and Moses is told that he will not lead the people into the Promised Land. Recorded live at Ramah in the Rockies, Rabbis Gavriel Goldfeder and Salomon Gruenwald join Rabbi Marc for a lively conversation about the transitions in leadership. Rabbi Gavriel Goldfeder works at MIT Hillel and has a website and publishing house called "Alternodox." Rabbi Salomon Gruenwald is Associate Rabbi at the Hebrew Educational Alliance in Denver.

In Parshat Korach (Numbers 16:1-18:32), the leadership of Moses and Aaron is challenged and the source of that challenge is Korach. He seems to have some sound arguments, but does he really? We learn most not from the challenge, but from the response of Moses. Is this incident about truth or power?

After a little break of a few weeks, Dash of Drash producer Sari Levy has some burning questions about havdalah, the soul and so much more. Join the conversation.

This episode was recorded on a recent trip to Jerusalem before the current explosion in violence and the relocation of the US Embassy. The rabbis make a distinction between earthly and heavenly Jerusalem and these reflections on the power of Shavuot from the heart of the world have the hope of heaven and the prayer of healing. Rabbi Ruth Gan Kagan is the founding Rabbi of Nava Tehila in Jerusalem and shares her musical vision of prayer and insights on this Holiday of receiving the gift of Torah, zman matan Torataynu.