Reading Torah Through Grief

Reading Torah Through Grief

Parashat Ha’Azinu: Healing Ourselves

What is God's role in moving through life to death?

Reading Torah Through Grief

Parashat Nitzavim-Vayeilech: Ethical Wills

Although we might think of the Torah as being about the past, detailing the origins of the cosmos, the planet ...

Reading Torah Through Grief

Parashat Ki Teitzei: Carrying the Burden

We aren’t expected to pull ourselves up without help.

Parashat Matot-Masei: Marking the Miracles

Many of the moments we once took for granted can be appreciated as miracles if we only stop to notice.

Parashat Matot: Honoring Wishes

Sometimes our promises to the dying cannot be fulfilled.

Parashat Balak: A Good Eye

As the curtain falls on a particular life story, the instinct is to construct a narrative that amplifies their better qualities.

Parashat Chukat: Acknowledging Our Blessings

The sudden disappearance of water after the death of Miriam reminds to appreciate our blessings while we have them.

Parashat Behar: Advance Planning

Having some logistics in place can alleviate some of the anxiety surrounding a loved one's death.

Parashat Bechukotai: Great Loss

The curses in this week's portion are a reminder of the calamities we all face.

Parashat Kedoshim: Caring for Our Bodies

As a rabbi, I have been asked many times what it means to be holy. Most literally, the Hebrew word ...

Parashat Achrei Mot: Space to Grieve

Aaron's silence after the death of his sons confirms what we know: Death should not be explained away.

Parashat Metzora: Healing From the Mysterious and Incomprehensible

This week’s Torah portion, Parashat Metzorah, is primarily concerned with a peculiar biblical affliction called tzaraat (tzah-RAH-at). Commonly mistranslated as ...

Parashat Tazria: Birth, Death and the Sanctity of the Liminal

Parshat Tazria deals with two subjects that at first appear quite at odds: the rituals following the birth of a ...

Parashat Pekudei: Opening Ourselves Up

How many of us who are grieving put up screens in our lives in order to get through the day?

Parashat Shoftim: Justice, Death and Uncertainty

Judaism provides for the liminal, confusing period of grief with a series of stages.