top of page
Search
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Aug 18, 20174 min read
Simple Wisdom, Step 3: Correct use of words
A few initial words: Our 45th president could have said something wise, even if not to satisfaction of those who will condemn him no...
35 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Aug 11, 20173 min read
Simple Wisdom, Step Two – Insight
I began my “path to simple wisdom” last week with the value of “respect” (including its close synonym in many usages, “honor”). I want to...
30 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Aug 4, 20174 min read
Simple, Bourgeois Wisdom
Seeking the Good First of the Seven Weeks to Rosh HaShanah (coinciding with Torah Portion Va-etchanan) You have all experienced the pain...
47 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Jul 28, 20174 min read
The Metaphysical Teaching and the Sin of the Calf
Thoughts on Torah Portion Devarim 2017 The metaphysical meaning of Torah always fascinates me. This metaphysical meaning, found in...
79 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Jul 21, 20174 min read
Teaching in Exile
Reflections on Torah Portion Mattot-Masei 2017 (edited from 2016) This week’s Torah portion is a double portion. The reason we have...
41 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Jul 14, 20173 min read
God in the Bible
Thoughts inspired by Torah portion Pinchas 2017 The thought of Carl Jung helped me learn the distinction between the God one might...
35 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Jun 30, 20174 min read
Snakes on a Staff
Reflections on the Weekly Torah Portion - Chukkat How do people heal? I don't mean in general. If I am injured or sick, I believe in...
160 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Jun 24, 20174 min read
Coming Near
Thoughts of Torah Portion Korach "And the children of Israel said to Moses, "'We are dying, we are perishing, all of us are perishing! ...
23 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Jun 2, 20173 min read
Knowledge, Will and Blessings
Thoughts on Torah Portion Naso I often meet with a person who is looking to change and it comes down to "the moment when." People want...
19 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
May 26, 20173 min read
Literalists Don't Go to Heaven
Thought on Shavu'ot, Shabbat Bamidbar 2017 Judaism is not founded on the Bible; it is founded on the understandings of the Bible shaped...
22 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
May 19, 20175 min read
Tikkun Olam - Repairing the World and Preventing Harm
Thought on Torah Portion Behar-Bechukotai 2017 In this week's Torah portion, we have an allusion to one of the most powerful images for...
61 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Apr 28, 20173 min read
Fear and Hatred, and the Remedy
Reflections on the Weekly Torah Portion - Tazria-Metzora This week's Torah portion is about mob violence. You wouldn't think so from a...
17 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Apr 7, 20173 min read
Trying to Be Free
Thoughts on the Shabbat Before Passover, 2017 "Free from what?" I ask myself, in my yearly meditation on freedom. Like a bird on the...
41 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Mar 17, 20173 min read
Architects
Reflections on the Weekly Torah Portion - Ki Tisa What qualities does it take to render an idea, whose source is from a mysterious realm,...
13 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Mar 10, 20173 min read
Numb & Joy
Reflections on Purim Back when I was in rabbinical school, a classmate related the following. She had a student pulpit a few hours...
78 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Feb 17, 20173 min read
Revelations
Reflections on the Weekly Torah Portion - Yitro (adapted from Shavu'ot message 2016) In honor of this week's Torah portion, which...
24 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Jan 6, 20174 min read
We, Who Are on the Road
Seeking the Good - Weekly Thought I knew very young that the Bible was not the word of God. Growing up in the home of Marxists who became...
9 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Dec 30, 20164 min read
Chanukah and Tony Robbins
At the urging of a couple of good friends, I got over myself and watched the Netflix documentary on Tony Robbins called "I Am Not Your...
24 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Dec 2, 20163 min read
The Curtain and the Veil
Reflections on the Weekly Torah Portion - Toldot Rebecca goes to inquire of God when she does not know what is happening inside of her....
8 views0 comments
Rabbi Mordecai Finley Ph.D.
Nov 25, 20164 min read
Life Torn and Sewn Together
Reflections on the Weekly Torah Portion - Chayei Sara Human pain is the backdrop of the book of Genesis, pain that produces visions and...
54 views0 comments
bottom of page