A D’var Torah for Parashat Toledot By Rabbi Dorit Edut (AJR ’06)   For those of you who have seen the famous movie “The Wizard of Oz” and then the two modern prequels “Wicked” and “Wicked for Good” you know that we have evolved from seeing the world as totally good vs. totally bad.  Yes, as the modern saying goes, ‘It’s complicated’. Knowing how many Jewish references there were in the original “Wizard of Oz,” I wonder if the directors of the modern sequels were also familiar with the Jewish Bible, especially this week’s portion depicting the origins and evolution of the rivalry and even hatred between the twin brothers, Esau and Jacob.  While the stereotyping of these two brothers starts at birth – with Read More >

Telling Our Stories A D’var Torah for Parashat Hayei Sarah By Rabbi Rachel Posner In this week’s parashah, both Abraham and Sarah breathe their last and reach the end of their long and significant lives. Yet most of this week’s parashah is taken up by the story of the mission of Abraham’s servant—traditionally known as Eliezer, although he is unnamed in our parashah—to find a wife for Isaac. Remarkably, the episode is narrated and then retold from Eliezer’s perspective. It’s remarkable because Eliezer’s voice takes up an unheard-of amount of biblical real estate. The Bible tells multiple creation stories, and biblical motifs get repeated (e.g., the sister-wife narratives). But I can’t think of another instance in which we hear a detailed retelling of a story Read More >

Leaving the Bunker: The Courage of Abraham's Tent A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayeira By Rabbi Scott “Shalom” Klein Parashat Vayeira opens with an encounter that redefines what it means to live a life of faith and purpose. Abraham sits at the entrance of his tent in the scorching heat of the day, physically healing from his circumcision. Yet his eyes are scanning the road. When three travelers appear in the distance, he does not weigh his comfort or ask for an easier assignment. He gets up and runs to greet them, putting his direct encounter with God on pause so he can offer shade, cool water, and fresh bread. Our sages in the Talmud (Shabbat 127a) draw a striking conclusion from this scene: welcoming Read More >

The Journey to Be a Blessing A D’var Torah for Parashat Lekh Lekha 2026 By Rabbi Davey Rosen (2022) This week we read Parashat Lekh Lekha, the Torah portion in which Avram (later renamed Avraham) begins the spiritual journey of the Jewish people. I emphasize spiritual because the physical or geographic trek had already begun. The parashah opens in Genesis 12:1 with God’s call to Avraham: לֶךְ־לְךָ֛ מֵאַרְצְךָ֥ וּמִמּֽוֹלַדְתְּךָ֖ וּמִבֵּ֣ית אָבִ֑יךָ אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר אַרְאֶֽךָּ "Go forth from your native land, from your birthplace, and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you." This start to Avraham’s journey is often read as a sudden break with the past, an individual picking themself up, a solitary leap of faith into an unknown future. Read More >