Eshel Out Loud
News, Views, and Updates from the Eshel Community
A Sacred Pause
Last week, as we read Parshat Breishit, beginning the Torah reading cycle anew, I was reminded of the words of my colleague Yavilah McCoy: “Rest is an intrinsic part of life and creation.” We describe Shabbat as סוֹף מַעֲשֶׂה, בְּמַחֲשָׁבָה תְּחִלָּה - the last to be created, but first in God’s plan. Each Shabbat, we [more]
Enjoying the Fruits of Our Labor
While we often include Sukkot in the trio of pilgrimage festivals, Sukkot is really best understood as the last act of the high holidays. After we have examined ourselves, identified and committed to improving our shortcomings, it would be too easy for us to slip back into old habits as soon as we returned to [more]
Lessons from Yonah
When I learned about Yom Kippur in day school, I was told of a magnificent judge in the vast heavens, passing verdicts on the other side of slowly closing gates. These verdicts determine the trajectory of our entire next year. Perhaps, if our prayers contain the requisite power, our kavanah will elevate them high enough [more]
Finding My Voice
As a closeted Orthodox kid, I internalized explicit and implicit messages about my identity that led me to self-censor various forms of expression, out of fear that doing so would expose that I was gay. Weekly, this fear would manifest at my family’s Shabbat table, a time and place usually filled with great food, bonding, [more]