Rabbi Koppell’s Writings
126. “Justice, justice shall you pursue.” (Deuteronomy 16:20) Of all the values in Judaism- kindness, generosity, compassion. Justice is preeminent. Without a foundation of justice, society cannot endure. I love the way Ahad HaAm expresses it- so powerful- “it was their all. . . .(it) is beauty, goodness, wisdom, truth.” …
With this week’s double Torah portion, B’Har and B’Chukotai, we come to the end of the Book of Leviticus. It is a dramatic conclusion. The Torah lays out a series of blessings promised to the Israelites if they follow God’s guidance—and a much longer, far more frightening list of curses…
116. “But a man’s own safety is a god that sometimes makes very grim demands.”- George Eliot, Romola, p. 512 George Eliot is right. Many things about which we think- “I could/would never do that,” suddenly become feasible when we feel threatened. Or, when there is a threat to someone…
Our Mussar class recently studied the very challenging, well, challenging to me, at least, middah of Emunah- faith. Thank goodness our tradition focuses much more on action than on belief. We have broad latitude about how we see God, how we connect with God, how we question God. The emphasis…
Have you ever been in a marching band? Played on a sports team? Served in the Army? Very different activities, yet they have one thing in common. Each one mandates a specific uniform. And if you’ve ever dressed in a uniform, perhaps you’ve felt, as I certainly have, that wearing…
I recently received a gift from my daughter Jessie. It was a belated Chanukkah gift that just arrived, but it was worth waiting for. Jessie knows how much Ron and I like decks of cards that ask questions and stimulate conversation at our dinner table. So she bought us…
This morning’s Torah reading is “B’Shallach,” and God sent, and it describes the moments after the exodus from Egypt as God sent the Israelites into the wilderness. This Shabbat is also known as Shabbat Shirah, the Shabbat of Song, because in it we read the words that our ancestors…
Have you ever wanted to stop time—to freeze a moment before it slips away? That impulse feels deeply human. We crave certainty in an uncertain world, stability in the midst of constant change. But time doesn’t pause. Even what appears solid and still is, according to physics, always in motion.…
I’m sure you’ve had this experience. A child asks you for something and it often sounds like this, “Can I have some more lemonade?” And our standard answer, most often, sounds like this, “Sure. What’s the magic word?” “Can I PLEASE have some more lemonade?” We teach our…
What I learned about Chanukkah from the US Army War College- Chanukkah and Warfare Rabbi Bonnie Koppell There are quantitative changes in the nature of warfare, there are qualitative changes in the nature of warfare. There is not a neat line of evolution from primitive hand-to-hand combat, culminating in…