by Ayden Heim | Aug 28, 2025 | Rabbi Cat's Musings
This week’s parsha, Shoftim (Deuteronomy 16:18–21:9), calls us to the heart of Jewish ethics: “Justice, justice you shall pursue.” Rabbi Cat reflects on what true justice means in Torah, prayer, and our lives today—justice rooted not in punishment, but in healing,...
by Ayden Heim | Aug 7, 2025 | Rabbi Cat's Musings
Rabbi Cat Zavis dives deep into Parshat Vaetchanan—home to the Shema, the V’ahavta, and the Aseret Ha’Dibrot (10 utterances)—exploring what it means to love, to resist, and to live ethically in times of immense upheaval. What does it mean to receive a divine download...
by Ayden Heim | Jun 26, 2025 | Rabbi Cat's Musings
This week we read Parshat Korach, a portion that asks a timeless question: What does it mean to challenge power in a holy way? Korach confronts Moses and Aaron: “All the community is holy — why do you elevate yourselves above us?” It sounds like a call for equality....
by Ayden Heim | Jun 13, 2025 | Rabbi Cat's Musings
In a week filled with so much devastation and violence, Rabbi Cat offers a fierce and tender drash on Parsha Beha’alotcha. What happens when those in power respond to fear, hunger, and protest with rage, punishment, and tyranny? This teaching invites us to look...
by Ayden Heim | May 30, 2025 | Rabbi Cat's Musings
This week we open the book of Bamidbar, where God commands Moses to count the adult males—name by name, tribe by tribe. Why? Because in Judaism, every person is sacred. The Mishnah teaches that while we all descend from the same first human, no two of us are alike....
by Ayden Heim | May 9, 2025 | Rabbi Cat's Musings
Parshat Shemini | Strange Fires Are Burning: How can we avoid being consumed? with Rabbi Cat Zavis This week’s parsha, Shemini, tells the story of Aaron’s sons offering a stranger fire to the Divine and the Divine consuming them in the fire. What? Aaron’s sons are...