Rabbi Koppell’s Writings
With your attention on the person, repeat to yourself: “Just like me, this person is seeking some happiness for (his or her) life.” With your attention on the person, repeat to yourself: “Just like me, this person is trying to avoid suffering in (his or her) life.” With your attention…
I know two people who lost their lives in the past month in car pedestrian accidents. They woke up in the morning, just like I did today. They got dressed, just like I did today. They left their home, just like I did today. And they are never going back.…
The Kaddish is a time when we mourn our personal losses, those that have occurred this year as well as those who have touched our lives perhaps many years or even decades ago. As I reflect back on 5774, I reflect on the loss of Nelson Mandela, a man who…
During the month of Elul, culminating on these Yamim Noraim, these Awesome Days, we look back over the year that is drawing to a close with an eye towards where in our lives we might want to push that “restart” button as we enter 5775. Our goal is an unfiltered,…
Reflections on the sounding of the shofar at Selichot services- Throughout the month of Elul we sound the shofar each morning, awakening our souls to the need for teshuvah, for reflection and repentance, and the need for reconciliation in all our relationships. Now, at the time of Selichot, our…
Elul is a hard month. With each day, the clock is ticking and the year is drawing to a close. The shofar blast each morning calls us to do teshuvah, urgently and insistently reminding us that the time is now. Yet, we would much rather not have to think about…
Shoftim, Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9 Shoftim v’shotrim – judges and cops – are foundations of civil society. The Torah acknowledges the ongoing need for a legal system supported by enforcement mechanisms. This is not a messianic vision of a world at peace, a world in which individuals choose the good always. It…
In tractate Taanit 22a, Rabbi Beroka Chaza-ah is sitting in the marketplace when he is visited by the prophet Elijah, with whom, apparently, he was in frequent communication. The rabbi inquired of the prophet- “Is there any person here who has a share in the world to come?” Just at…
In the Gettysburg address, President Abraham Lincoln described the United States of America as “conceived in liberty.” The story of the Jewish people shares this common thread: our foundational epic is the exodus from Egypt, a celebration of freedom from tyranny. When we reflect on our own history as Jews-…
a commentary on Parshat Korach, Numbers 16:1-18:32 The rabbis were very threatened by Korach, the lead in our story this week. He represented the most serious rebellion against Moses’ authority in the wilderness, as he and his followers challenged Moses and Aaron: “You have gone too far! For all the…