The Ground of Choice A D’var Torah for Parashat Ki Tavo By Rabba Kaya Stern-Kaufman In this week’s Torah portion, Ki Tavo, we are witness to a grand ritual; a dramatization depicting the landscape of choices within which we all reside at all times.  One half of the Israelite tribes are told to stand on Mt. Gerizim while the other half of the tribes are to stand on Mt. Ebal. Between the two mountains lies a valley, a middle ground within which the tribe of Levi is to stand. From this middle ground of choice, the Levites call up to those on Mt. Ebal with a series of curses that will result from choices rooted in idolatry, dishonesty, greed and lust. The Levites then call Read More >

Just One Thing After Another A D’var Torah for Parashat Ki Teitzei By Rabbi Wendy Love Anderson Like much of Deuteronomy, Parashat Ki Teitzei has no overarching narrative framework: it presents as a seemingly unconnected string of commandments, with medieval list-makers identifying as many as 74 separate mitzvot in the parashah. Some of these mitzvot seem to stand alone (e.g., the single-verse prohibition in Deut. 22:8 against building a house without a railing around its roof), while others fall into thematic groups (e.g., the subsequent three verses in Deut. 22:9-11, which prohibit sowing vineyards with two kinds of seeds, plowing with two kinds of animals, and wearing garments made of two kinds of threads), but each verse or group of verses ends with an abrupt Read More >

Unsolved Murders A D’var Torah for Parashat Shoftim By Rabbi Dorit Edut (AJR ’06) Many of us have seen the TV show “Unsolved Mysteries” and the Netflix series “FBI:Most Wanted” before they went off the air. We were probably attracted to the solving of these crimes because of our curiosity, but I also hope we may have been motivated by the desire to see justice done – something which our Torah tradition has ingrained in us for centuries.  In my own community we have an organization called CrimeStoppers of Southeast Michigan which works closely with law enforcement and encourages people to anonymously report tips that might solve a murder crime with the promise of a nice financial reward. Yet with daily reports of new murders, Read More >

Monotheism and the Pitfalls of Certainty A D’var Torah for Parashat Re’eh By Rabbi Dr. Rachel Posner Earlier this year, two Israeli soldiers desecrated a statue of Jesus in southern Lebanon. The IDF responded quickly and decisively, punishing the soldiers with jail time. It was a painful example of how our need to assert and defend ourselves can slide into triumphalism — the wish to squelch and destroy the sacred practices of others. Monotheism can be co-opted into the dangerous notion that there is only one way to serve our singular Creator. But our central tenet — Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Ehad — does not mean that there is only one way to serve God, or that we alone have the right answers about Read More >