Welcome to CyberTorah
Torah Commentary by Rabbi David Booth
CyberTorah is a weekly commentary by Rabbi David Booth, spiritual leader of Congregation Kol Emeth in Palo Alto, California.
Rabbi Booth was educated at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles and...Read more...
A Guide for the Passover Perplexed 5785
As Passover draws near, it is time to get our homes and kitchens ready for this special Holiday. This guide offers an overview of home preparation. For more details, go to this Passover Guide from the Rabbinical Assembly.
Spiritual Meaning
Passover is the origin story of the Jewish people and our commitment to freedom and meaning. Removing leavened products places us in that drama, reminding us that we continue to...Read more...
Purim and the Golden Calf
What does the story of the Golden Calf have in common with the story of Purim? And no, this isn’t a joke. As Rabbi Lehmann taught us this Shabbat there is something serious at the core of Purim. Purim is the day of opposites The Book of Esther is filled with reversals, where terrible genocidal efforts give way to peace and stability. Where outrageous sexism (Vashti’s voice is suppressed) gives way to a world where women wield power...Read more...
The Fast of Esther
It was a dark moment for the Jewish people and all the options looked bad. Haman’s plans were proceeding apace and if nothing was done, darkness would reign. It was in this moment that Esther chose to take on responsibility. She chose to act rather than stand aside, knowing the lives she could save.
Yet before she acted, prior to deciding the course of action that would unravel all of Haman’s plots, Esther and her maidservants...Read more...
Generosity
Exercise: Practice generosity. Identify a cause / charity that you like and make a small daily donation for one week. Be generous with your time with a friend or loved one. Tip intentionally more than you would normally. With each act of generosity, take a breath and say: I offer this to do good and in the service of God.
Background: God, as it were, was generous with the Jewish people this past Shabbat. We had not one, not two, but...Read more...
And a time for joy...
Exercise: Take five long breaths. In between each breath, draw to mind something for which you are grateful. After those five breaths, sit for a minute and say, “I hold with love whatever suffering and loss surrounds me. And now, I give myself permission to feel joy. In that joy, I will be strengthened.” Take five more breaths and then go about your day. Repeat daily, ideally in the afternoon.
Background: People often say God only...Read more...
A Time to Mourn
Yesterday morning at around 10am Israel time, midnight here in California, Hamas released 4 deceased hostages. The remains of Oded Lifshitz, 82, Ariel Bibas 4, Kfir Bibas, an infant (all ages at time of abduction 10/7/23), were returned to Israel. The remains of one other person were also released, purported to be Shiri Bibas but remains unidentified at this hour. Israelis lined the streets as the caskets were brought home, standing in...Read more...
Compassion Fatigue
Compassion fatigue is real. It happens when we are too busy, too upset, kept at a pitch of stress and frustration for too long. The symptoms include shortness of temper, lack of empathy, and a quickness to push people away. When we are in such a state, we revert to a deep and problematic tribalism in which those people who agree with us are friends, and those who disagree with us are enemies.
Moses, whom God chose because he is a...Read more...
Caution: Breathe Before Acting
Exercise: The next time you experience a difficult or frightening choice, take a deep breath. Sit for a moment, a moment of thought, a moment to connect with your deep, true self. Then exhale. Take one more breath for good measure. There is no effort here in thinking about the choice, or trying to overcome your fear. It is much simpler. The exercise is simply to breathe. Just to take two breaths, a brief pause of reconnection with yourself,...Read more...
These are the Names
These are the names…the names of the children of Israel. We start Exodus and we read of a people. What constitutes a people? Simply a list of names. And then all the stories, and loves, and connections, and petty disagreements, and acts of life that creates a web of humanity. That is what makes a people.
These are the names…We have 98 hostages still being held in Gaza. Some of them alive, some of them not. They all have stories...Read more...
The LA Fires
I am heartbroken by the images and stories I am hearing from the fires in Los Angeles. It is a tragedy of enormous proportions that is affecting hundreds of thousands. Friends and former members of Kol Emeth have lost homes and / or been displaced along with thousands and thousands of others.
Two tangible ways to help. First, Pasadena Jewish Temple, a fellow Conservative Synagogue, was totally destroyed. They are now attempting to...Read more...
Light these Lights
The days are getting shorter, the air colder. The growing darkness outside, the shortening of the days, seems to aim at hope itself. In this moment, when we might give up, Judaism along with many other traditions says; we will make our own light. We will kindle our own flames and remind ourselves that hope still burns in our hearts.
The hope of Judaism has always included and been bigger than a place of our own. The Hanukkah...Read more...
Love and Judgement
Balancing love and judgement, hesed and din, is one of the great spiritual challenges of Judaism. Love without judgement damages the one who offers the love. In the inability / unwillingness to hold back there is risk of hurt and an offered vulnerability that may not be reciprocated. This kind of love can result in “love bombing,” an excessive offer of affection or devotion that may be not only unwelcome but in some cases abusive. We more...Read more...
Trauma and Anti-Semitism
Childhood ought to be a refuge from the challenges of adulthood. It is our job as parents to protect our children and to create for them a sense of safety, belonging, and security. Since 10/7 a number of Jewish families have been unable to offer that refuge to their children.
Jewish Family and Children’s services, which for years has offered support to children experiencing trauma or other difficulties, finds itself serving a...Read more...
Burial Practices
Upon hearing the news of Sarah’s death, Abraham rushes back home. As her husband, he knows it is his responsibility to care for her last needs, which he does in a loving and thoughtful fashion. He acquires a burial place large enough for her and for several more generations of their family. The burial takes place in an expeditious manner, as quickly as possible. And finally, burial is followed by a time of mourning.
From this, we...Read more...
In the Heat of the Day
It is easy to think the problems and challenges right now are all consuming and of paramount importance. We want that to be true because then our choices take on a magnified importance that appeals to our ego. Maimonides, the great Spanish / Egyptian Jewish scholar of the Middle Ages teaches a challenging counter narrative when he says “the news of the day negates Torah.”
For Maimonides, when we get (overly?) concerned with...Read more...
Pluralistic Communities
After Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, I listened to sermons from my friends and some of the most respected colleagues around the country. I heard stirring messages that shared themes of trauma and a need to double down on hope. We are all feeling heart broken and searching for ways to heal. Yet I noticed something else.
Most of those sermons fell into one of two categories. There were the defenders of Israel, the people who...Read more...
To everything there is a season
When Israel celebrates their independence, they have a two part ritual. First comes Yom HaZikaron, Israeli memorial day. People mourn their loved ones; there are beautiful ceremonies at cemeteries around the country. There is a moment of silence when everything stops as people remember those who gave their lives in defense of the country. After that day of solemnity and mourning, as the sun sets, grief gives way to joy. People dance and party...Read more...
Joy
Joy is in short supply. Between our domestic and Israeli concerns, there is little space left for simchah or joy. And yet I want to suggest that it is in precisely such a moment that we need to create space for joy, to find room for something that can allow us to feel more whole. I want to share two teachings in that vein.
First, Rebbe Nachman teaches that it is essential to remain joyous. His followers turned that into a subversive...Read more...
Return
In Western literature, returning home looms large. Return means to come back transformed by one’s adventures with new heroic capacities. When Odyseus or Frodo come back, they have grown and are now more than able to manage the challenges at home that before would have overwhelmed them. The growth is in heroic capacity, the return to a place that is static or that the hero, in returning, can restore to its former glory.
For the...Read more...
Hope
Rabbi Akiva was the most intense of the Rabbis. It is Rabbi Akiva who argued for including the Song of Songs into the Bible. He saw the erotic as a part of the spiritual encounter. Similarly, he was a political radical. He was most likely the spiritual leader behind Bar Kokhba, who led an ill-fated revolt against the Romans. Though the revolt threw off the Roman yoke for 3 years, it ultimately collapsed and left devastation in its...Read more...
Be Careful What You Pray For
Imagine a couple without children. They have traveled from place to place for work, looking for their own promised land. As much as they love each other, and they really do, they also yearn deeply and completely for a child of their own. At one point they were able to have a child with a surrogate (but only with the husband’s genetic material), but they continue to hope for a child together, where they can both be the biological...Read more...
My Bar Mitzvah
41 years ago, I got called to the Torah for the first time. I have some vivid memories. I remember my Dad smiling at me with tremendous joy. I remember going way too fast on the Kaddish Shalem and the Rabbi stopping me and making me start over. I remember a beautiful and slightly awkward party at my home. Awkward, because I was a socially unskilled 13 year old without anything resembling the skills to be at a mixed gender...Read more...
Shiva: Poems of October 7th
One of my teachers in Rabbinical school used to say that there are two types of bestsellers. One sells 100,000 copies in a single year, the other 1,000 copies for 100 years. Shiva: Poems of October 7th is in the second category, though I hope it will sell far more than 1000 copies this year.
Rachel Korazim, a scholar of Israeli poetry, has made the teaching of Israeli poetry to American Jewish audiences her life’s passion. She...Read more...
Busying with Torah
Before study, there is a custom of saying the following blessing: Praised are You, God, ruler of all, who makes us holy in Your commandments and commands us to busy ourselves with Torah. On a surface level, the blessing suggests Torah as a kind of hiding place. When the stresses of the world get to be too much, thank You for this other place to occupy our mind. In the midst of darkness and...Read more...
Bless This Year
To this point in our exploration of the Amidah, I have suggested meditations to awaken a connection with each of the 19 blessings of the weekday Amidah. I believe daily prayer that allows us to express our deepest feelings, fears, and hopes is essential to whole living. For me, taking time each day to orient myself towards my deepest values and self makes me a better person. I feel obligated to pray...Read more...
Healing
Exercise 1, the self: Focus on an area of your body that is experiencing pain or illness. Imagine that area being filled with God’s love, an energy that pushes away and heals that which is injured. Envision that loving energy enveloping the illness or pain, and gradually easing it away, back towards health. Then say, Praised are You, God, who heals Your people Israel, Barukh Atah Adonai, HaRophei...Read more...
Let All Who Are Hungry Come And Eat
Last Thursday I had a young adult gathering in which I asked them why they joined Kol Emeth. To a person, they responded that when they came to Kol Emeth, they immediately felt welcomed, known and seen. A Rabbi came to greet them; multiple people from the community made a point of saying hello and getting to know them. As they got to know the community, they realized this was the place for them....Read more...
Passover
As Passover approached, I wanted to share two readings with you as possible inserts for your Seder. I pray that you have a joyous and hopeful Passover. May God grant us the light in our eyes to pierce the darkness and see forward to hope.
First, something I wrote about the four children:
Today, there are four children. First are the defenders of the Jewish...Read more...
Amidah Exercise and Commentaries Part 7
And God heard their cry and remembered the covenant...(Exodus 2:24).
Exercise 1: get in touch with a place of pain or restriction in your heart. Perhaps it is a story or experience that you have never fully worked through. Or maybe it is a current area of pain. Or it could be someone at work or home who is abusive to you. Perhaps it is pain or loss of function in your body.
As you...Read more...
A Guide for the Passover Perplexed
As Passover draws near, it is time to get our homes and kitchens ready for this special Holiday. This guide offers an overview of home preparation. For more details, go here.
Spiritual Meaning
Passover is...Read more...
