Reuven Spero

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Apr 25, 2024, 8:43 PM

The Best Song of All

I’ve been drawn to Shir Ha-shirim since the first time I read the first verse. Who has not? Who has not felt the draw and the quickening of the verse: He’ll kiss me with the kisses of his lips,...

Jan 15, 2024, 10:30 PM

It is hard to write these days, a hundred days into the Hamas war. Is there anything new to report? Not so much. The man who sits in front of me at shul is there every morning, saying kaddish for...

Dec 26, 2023, 12:42 AM

Finding Zionism after October 7

An idea that has made the rounds since the October 7 massacre is that the meaning of our army’s failure to protect our citizens is that Zionism has died. The inability of Israel to shield Jews not simply from...

Dec 13, 2023, 10:44 PM

To continue and follow up just briefly on what I posted above. Your joy before Hashem is your strength. There is something to that. I talked to the son of my neighbor about his decisions to announce his engagement at this...

Dec 10, 2023, 6:19 PM

Joy in bad times

Joy in bad times Last week, just before Shabbat, a former student called me from the States. We talked for a while and then he asked me, what does one do about simha in times like these? This is such a...

Apr 4, 2023, 7:48 PM

Pesah, Shoah, and Wonderment

Over the past two weeks, I was immersed first in traveling to Poland with my class, and then immediately afterwards, celebrating Pesah with my family. It was perhaps my 15th or 20th trip to Poland, and I wondered if...

Jun 2, 2022, 4:57 PM

A Dream Uninterpreted…

Shavuot is upon us again, with its odors of cheesecake and blintzes. I guess that’s what we get with this most austere of holidays. No sukkah, no Seder. No shaking of the fragrant lulav, no four cups of wine...

May 14, 2021, 12:13 PM

For the Love of Ruth

Ruth is a love story no less compelling or passionate that Shir Hashirim. Their expressions of love are different: Shir Hashirim is a love of hair and eyes, of breasts and thighs. Of throbbing syntax, dreams of intimacy and...

Mar 30, 2021, 6:31 PM

The last morning in the park

This was the last morning in the park. It’s actually quite a small park, just a strip of green next to the road. There are the obligatory monkey bars and horses on coils and a plastic and steel castle...

Jan 26, 2021, 4:54 PM

A Lover’s Quarrel on Tu Bishvat

The first Mishna in the Tractate of Rosh Hashanna tells us: There are four New Years! Among them is the new year for kings, from which we count the years of their rule. There is also a new year...

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About Me

Reuven is a refugee from Kentucky, where his family lived for 200 years. A teacher at the Alexander Muss High School in Israel, Reuven and family are now rooted in the Land of Israel, living in Shilo.