Rabbi Jonathan Kligler

Rabbi Jonathan Kligler discusses manifestations of AntiSemitism in our world today, on the left and the right, and ways that we can take a stand to combat this rise.

Embracing the inherent paradoxes of our existence; Wonder, humility and radical amazement; a sense of being called, the deep intuition that our lives matter.

The cycle of "sevens" in Judaism - seven days, seven weeks, seven years - encode the core, radical innovation of Judaism: we must create a society and tend to our world in a way that ensures fair and just treatment for all, including the earth itself.

Listen to Heschel's own voice in an interview fro m shortly before his death in 1973. We discuss his presentation, and then read his short piece "The Reason for My Involvement in the Peace Movement" (1973)

Leviticus 23 describes the Biblical Holiday cycle. The Rabbis ingeniously transformed that ancient pattern into the Jewish Calendar we have today.

In this class, we read parts of Heschel's essay "The Spirit of Jewish Prayer"

Leviticus Ch. 19 instructs us in the central ethical behaviors that might create a "holy community", a place where the Divine Presence can dwell and be experienced.

We read and discuss "To Grow in Wisdom", a paper Heschel gave at the White House Conference in Aging in 1961. He addresses the challenges of growing old with deep insight and spiritual wisdom.

In the Biblical worldview, Metzora, a skin disease, mirrors some dis-ease of the inner self, some loss of integrity or disconnection from the community. A ritual is described that allows the person to be reintegrated into the community.

We read and discuss "Religion and Race", an address that Rabbi Heschel first delivered in 1963.

Can we make sense of the deaths of Nadav and Avihu? We explore both the plain and the mystical understandings of this episode.

What is the purpose of sacrifice in Leviticus? The Hebrew terms for "sacrifice" give us the answer

Three dimensions through which to manifest holiness: sacred space (the Mishkan), sacred time (Shabbat and holy times), and sacred self (Making oneself into a dwelling place for the Divine).

Moses as the exemplar of the human being who balances ascent and communion with the Divine with descent and communion with the human situation.

Aaron and his sons are tasked with keeping the light in the Mishkan lit from evening until morning, perpetually. The Hasidic master, the S'fat Emet, teaches that is everyone's task: to bring light into the darkness through not only performing mitzvot, but by being a mitzvah.

To understand the layout and purpose of the Mishkan, we must learn to think analogically. For our ancestors, every level of reality was in relation to and an analogy for every other level, from the personal to the cosmic.

How does one confront a Pharaoh, a tyrant? Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel of blessed memory offers inspiration

12 Vayechi Parshat Hashavua 011217 Jacob on his Deathbed by Rabbi Jonathan Kligler

What is the "Divine Feminine"? How does it express itself in the Abrahamic traditions? How has it been suppressed, and how is it being reclaimed?

Serach daughter of Asher is only a name in the Torah - but the Rabbis who wove Midrash give her a central role in the redemption of the Jewish People.