Introduction to the Daily Spiritual Practice
Our Torah portion this week, Nasso, contains the priestly blessing, verses that are very difficult to translate experientially. For...
top of page
Search
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Jan 12, 20183 min read
The God of the Bible
I am always a bit perplexed by those troubled by the passage in this week’s Torah portion where God is depicted as hardening Pharaoh’s...
199 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Dec 29, 20174 min read
The Struggle for the Blessing
Torah Portion VaYechi 2017 (adapted from 2016) When I was a graduate student at USC, I frequented a nearby supermarket with a deli...
131 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Dec 22, 20173 min read
Logos and the New Covenant
It is time for my annual “Christmas sermon.” Instead of sidestepping the holiday, I see the Shabbat nearest Christmas as an opportunity...
190 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Dec 15, 20174 min read
Psychoanalyzing Chanukah
(adapted from 2016) If you understand psychoanalysis, you can understand the basic worldview of the Kabbalah. The original meaning of...
88 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Dec 8, 20173 min read
Breaking Out
Of all of sublime indications that “the Bible is literature, not journalism” the subtle threads exuding from this week’s Torah portion...
75 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Dec 1, 20173 min read
The Unification of the Soul (adapted from 2016)
In the Torah we are taught to love God, "with all your heart, with all your soul and all your might" "b'khol levav'kha, b'khol nafsh'kha,...
93 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Nov 22, 20174 min read
From Darkness to Wisdom (adapted from 2015)
I can imagine Jacob bemoaning his fate, justifiably. Jacob was the one, the Bible tells us, who was the dweller in tents. The Midrash...
31 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Nov 17, 20174 min read
Breaking Free
Polonius, in Shakespeare's Hamlet, is presented as a sincere, but also as an insufferably garrulous and "tedious old fool." The...
32 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Nov 10, 20173 min read
No Exit
Avivah Zornberg, in her wondrous book The Beginning of Desire: Reflections on Genesis, zeroes in precisely on the existentialist...
34 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Nov 3, 20174 min read
Fear and Trembling
"God tested Abraham . . ." These words begin an awe inspiring narrative, just one chapter in the Bible (Genesis 22) - small in length but...
35 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Oct 27, 20174 min read
Changing and Leaving (adapted from 2015)
If anything, Abraham seems to have been a compulsive figure. Suddenly picking up and leaving everything like that. Neurotic, Freud would...
16 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Oct 20, 20173 min read
Pillar of Prayer
This week's Torah portion, Noah, has a verse that has become a foundation for the spiritual and mystical approach to prayer. In Genesis...
566 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Oct 13, 20172 min read
Before the Beginnings
The rabbis of the Talmud don't agree with the beginning sentence of the Torah. The book of Genesis begins, as it is usually translated,...
32 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Oct 6, 20173 min read
Nature and Spirit: Thoughts on Sukkot
(adapted from 2016) I am one of those who accepts the idea of “natural religion.” This belief does not mean the worship of the natural...
25 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Sep 23, 20172 min read
Turn Your Life Around (adapted from 2014)
Most of you reading this have turned your lives around, at some time or another, in a big or small way. We were headed in one direction,...
23 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Sep 16, 20173 min read
Wisdom and Poetry - Seventh Aspect of Wisdom Before the Days of Awe
I've reached my seventh and final topic of wisdom as we close in on the Days of Awe. Remember, these different ideas are not stages of...
13 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Sep 8, 20173 min read
Growing in Wisdom
Traditionally, at Rosh HaShanah we wish each other a "good and sweet year" (shanah tova umetukah). In more modern circles, the wish has...
10 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Sep 1, 20174 min read
Simple Wisdom Step 5 – Motivations and Goals
It has been hard to stay focused during these turbulent times, from the recent outrage to the recent tragedy. I think some events propel...
66 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Aug 26, 20174 min read
Simple Wisdom Step Four – Fundamentals of Processing
We have entered Elul, the month preceding Rosh HaShanah. The core theme of Rosh HaShanah is the Sovereignty of the Divine. The inner...
44 views0 comments
bottom of page