A D’var Torah for Parshiyot Aharei Mot—Kedoshim By Rabbi Dorit Edut (' 06) With all the conflicts in our world today and the divisiveness in the Jewish community we might well be tempted to respond to Parashat Kedoshim’s formulation of The Golden Rule with the words from the famous Tina Turner song: “What’s love got to do with it?” And yet, I think there is a great deal that the Torah is trying to teach us in this portion about love. It is not a simple matter – to love someone else.  Just look at the verse that precedes (Leviticus 19:17) – where we see what Abraham Ibn Ezra calls the reverse of this expression: “You shall not hate your kinsfolk in your heart.”  While indeed there is Read More >

Protecting Our Garment of Light A D’var Torah for Parshiyot Tazria-Metzorah By Rabbi Dr. Rachel Posner Our skin is the largest organ of our body - and a remarkable one. The average adult's skin covers about two square meters, hosts roughly 1,000 species of bacteria, and contains millions of receptors that sense touch, pressure, temperature, and pain, constantly sending signals to the brain about our environment. Our skin regulates body temperature, protects us from pathogens, and repairs itself with quiet efficiency: within minutes of injury, platelets begin clotting; within days, new skin cells migrate to cover the wound. We sometimes think of our skin as a boundary, a wall separating inside from outside. But like the walls of a home, it is both a border Read More >

Before God: The Risk of Sacred Nearness A D’var Torah for Parashat Shemini By Rabbi Anat Katzir Parashat Shemini confronts us with one of the Torah’s most unsettling phrases. After Nadav and Avihu offer what the text calls אש זרה eish zarah, “strange/foreign fire,” we read: ״ ותצא אש מלפני ה׳ וימותו לפני ה׳״“Vateitzei eish milifnei Adonai… vayamutu lifnei Adonai.” Fire came forth from before God, and they died before God. (Leviticus 10:2) The phrase “lifnei Adonai” appears three times in two verses. Nadav and Avihu bring their offering “lifnei Adonai.” The fire emerges “milifnei Adonai”. They die “lifnei Adonai.” The repetition is deliberate and disquieting. The same preposition: “lifnei”, describes both their location and the origin of the consuming fire. They stand in proximity to divine Presence, and that very proximity Read More >

From Spectators to Stakeholders: The Architecture of Spiritual Freedom A D’var Torah for Pesah By Rabbi Scott “Shalom” Klein The festival of Pesah serves as the foundational narrative of our people, transitioning us from the degradation of "Avadim Hayinu" (we were slaves) to the existential responsibility of a free nation. While the Seder night focuses on the historical memory of the Exodus, the deeper theological challenge lies in the internal transformation required to sustain that freedom. By examining the Haggadah’s insistence on personal identification with the past and the Netivot Shalom’s (Rabbi Sholom Noah Berezovsky) insights on the nature of spiritual liberation, we find a timeless blueprint for leadership and communal resilience. The central command of the evening is found in the Mishnah (Pesahim 10:5): “בְּכָל דּוֹר וָדוֹר חַיָּב אָדָם Read More >