Ometz lev is a quality of willingness to speak truth to power and also a quality of the heart: strength tempered by love and gentleness.

Which of two well-known readings of this text is correct?

Ten months after the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, I moved to Palo Alto. When our first Sukkot arrived, members of the Jewish community...

Rabbi Levi Yitzhak teaches that with every breath we take, God breathes life into us as on the day of creation.

We must arise from our posture of humility in order to practice transformative love, emulate God’s ways and spend our lives in service.

I have been to many demonstrations at Palo Alto City Hall. But there was something special about the one on Aug. 11, for Tish'a B'Av.

The Israelite spies were sent on a sacred mission and they failed spectacularly. Why? Because they let fear overpower them, overwhelming...

This year I can visualize the scapegoat being cast out by the community, because I have seen it on the streets of San Francisco.

Still aching from the horror of the massacre at the mosques in New Zealand, I found myself at a remarkable gathering last week. It was...

A friend of mine says sardonically, “You’ve got to love the Megillah (the Book of Esther, on which the festival of Purim is based). It...

When life is stormy and confusing, wouldn’t it be amazing to have a spiritual navigation system to tell us what we need to do?

This week’s Torah portion has a lot to say. J. Weekly | JANUARY 10, 2019 In normal times, I approach Parashat Bo in the usual way. I dive...

(published in Yashar, the Newsletter of The Mussar Institute, January 2019) When my daughter was a little girl, she had an uncanny...

I just returned from a sacred pilgrimage. The place was the new National Memorial of Peace and Justice and The Legacy Museum in...

It was late on Friday afternoon, and I was on my way to a Catholic church, where I would soon lead Shabbat candle-lighting for a large...

Think of a young child whom you love. Remember a time when your beloved child was tired, hungry or uncomfortable. What did she do?...

Two Somali-American imams, a woman in hijab, an African-American pastor, and two American women rabbis come to Jerusalem. Sound like the...

A Review of: Ronald Kronish (ed.), Coexistence and Reconciliation in Israel: Voices for Interreligious Dialogue (NY: Paulist Press, 2015)...

This post is adapted from my book, From Enemy to Friend: Jewish Wisdom and the Pursuit of Peace (Orbis, 2014). For more about the book,...

Common wisdom has it that much violence in the world is driven by religious passion. Though there is good reason for this claim, deeper...