Facing Each Other A D’var Torah for Parashat Terumah Rabbi Dr. Rachel Posner (AJR '25)   This week the Israelites are given instructions for a monumental building project: וְעָ֥שׂוּ לִ֖י מִקְדָּ֑שׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּ֖י בְּתוֹכָֽם׃ And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. (Exodus 25:8) The story of the Mishkan - our portable container for holiness - is told twice in the Bible: first as a set of instructions, a kind of how-to guide, and later as a description of how the Israelites carried the instructions out. This building project is the key element to becoming a community, not a disparate group of people but A People that beats with one heart. What makes a project sacred? Sure, assembling those Kallax shelves Read More >

A D’var Torah for Parashat Mishpatim - Shabbat Shekalim By Rabbi Anat Katzir Reading the laws presented in the parashah this week was an opening to struggle with some of the discomfort caused by what feels like a gap of values between my world and the biblical one. It is through grappling with the reality of ancient history, and with the input from generations of Rabbinic leadership that followed, that I can see how behind the laws there are similar values and shared truths that needed to be redefined and amended through time and space. It is a lesson in context and adaptation of values over eras and cultures, and also a struggle with finding ways to overcome the gaps between Jewish communities of different Read More >

K’Ish Ehad: Organizational Infrastructure as a Path to Unity A D’var Torah for Parashat Yitro By Rabbi Scott “Shalom” Klein Parashat Yitro stands as the essential fulcrum of the Book of Exodus, marking the transition from a newly liberated population to a covenanted nation at the foot of Sinai. This portion offers a profound exploration of the nature of communal leadership, the ethics of delegation, and the radical openness required to receive the Divine law. By examining the structural wisdom of an outsider and the communal unity required for the Aseret HaDibrot, we find a timeless blueprint for the rabbinate, particularly for those serving in the pluralistic environments of the military or the intimate settings of small-town pulpits. The Parashah begins with a singular focus Read More >

Lighting the Way A D’var Torah for Parashat Beshallah By Cantor Sandy Horowitz (’14) In our busy, often digital-driven lives, we tend to forget to pause and take note of the wonders of creation around us and above us.  Yet, opportunities abound: when we pray the words from the morning liturgy “yotzer or u’vorei hoshekh” (“Creator of light and Fashioner of darkness”), we might pause and look out the window; when we are out at night, we could look up and take note of the phase of the moon, reflecting on its connection to the Hebrew month. Taking the time to watch the sun set can be a wondrous and profound experience - the sky slowly changing color as the sun gradually sets behind Read More >