by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 28, 2023 | Psalms, Faith
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz The story is told of a righteous Jew who decides that he doesn’t want to be poor any longer. He goes out to a mountaintop and prays to God. “God, what is a thousand years to you?” he calls out. A booming voice answers, “A thousand years is...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 21, 2023 | Psalms, Prayer
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz There is an urban myth that Eskimos have 50 words for snow. I don’t know if that is true, but I do know that there are a lot of different words in Hebrew used to describe the same spiritual thing. For exmaple, there are seven names for God in...
by Eliyahu Berkowitz | f 20, 2023 | Psalms, Tests and Trials
I hate tests. I never understood the point of throwing a difficult problem at someone in order to see what they know or what they can do. As a teacher, I preferred to sit down with my student and discuss the material. In that manner, I learned more from my students...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 20, 2023 | Psalms
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz I am always amazed that there seems to be a specific Psalm for every occasion and situation. David must have been in constant dialogue with God. This reminds me of the character of Tevye in the musical Fiddler on the Roof. He was always...
by Eliyahu Berkowitz | f 19, 2023 | Psalms, Free Will
My best friend, Jack, is a no-nonsense person who isn’t interested in engaging in philosophical or spiritual discussions that he perceives as pretentious or pompous. While I appreciate his straightforwardness, I am always thankful that, for the most part, he...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 16, 2023 | Psalms
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz My first visit to Israel was in 1978 when I was seventeen years old. As a teen on his first trip away from home, I was cynical and more interested in adventure than in any serious endeavors. I certainly had no interest in investigating my...
