by Rabbi Altonaga | Oct 29, 2021 | Rabbi Michael Altonaga, Weekly Parsha
What did you do today? Did you use your time to the fullest? This week’s Torah portion, Chayei Sarah (the life of Sarah), begins with the mention of Sarah’s death. And the life of Sarah was one hundred years and twenty years and seven years;...
by Rabbi Altonaga | Oct 8, 2021 | Rabbi Michael Altonaga, Weekly Parsha
“Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!” I shrieked, upstarting— “Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore! Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken! Leave my loneliness unbroken!—quit the bust above my door!...
by Rabbi Altonaga | Sep 10, 2021 | High Holidays, Rabbi Michael Altonaga, Yom Kippur
Have you ever done something that you wish you could take back? Sometimes, only moments later you realized that you unintentionally hurt someone’s feelings or caused some other harm to yourself or others. Wouldn’t it be great if you could just...
by Rabbi Altonaga | Aug 19, 2021 | Ki Tetze, Parasha, Rabbi Michael Altonaga, Weekly Parsha
The War in Afghanistan seems to be in it’s final stretch nearly 20 years after it began. As many of its results were overturned so quickly, politicians and strategists debate each tactic that was used and discuss alternatives that never saw the light of...
by Rabbi Altonaga | Jul 30, 2021 | Eikev, Rabbi Michael Altonaga, Weekly Parsha
I started talking to people again recently. I suppose I never stopped talking to people digitally, and there were a few people I spoke to in person during all the lock-downs, but multiple in person conversations a day is really novel to me right now. As...