2019

24 01, 2019

Parashat Yitro 5779

By Rabbi Matthew Goldstone, PhD|2019-01-24T12:47:38-05:00January 24, 2019|

A D’var Torah for Parashat Yitro
By Rabbi Matthew Goldstone

At the beginning of this week’s parasha Moses’ father-in-law, Yitro, hears of “all that God had done for Moses and the Israelites” (Exod. 18:1) and he brings Moses’ wife and children to join the Israelites in the desert. Moses goes out to greet Yitro and warmly welcomes him into his tent. Moses then recounts to his father-in-law all of the miraculous deeds that God performed to bring the Israelites out of Egypt and Yitro rejoices (Exod. 18:8-9). But wait. If Yitro already heard about “all that God had done for Moses and the Israelites,” then why does he only rejoice after hearing all of this again from Moses? By this point the exodus is old news! Perhaps the answer lies not in the message but in the messenger. Hearing secondhand, even about miracles such as the splitting of the sea, is simply Read More >

18 01, 2019

Parashat Beshallah 5779

By Rabbi David Evan Markus|2019-01-18T14:05:43-05:00January 18, 2019|

A D’car Torah for Parashat Beshallah
By Rabbi David Evan Markus

It’s an occupational hazard. We clergy so delight in bringing Torah to life and liturgy to life that we might unashamedly “geek out” – especially when we do both at the same time. When I link Torah with liturgy in ways that enliven both, my joy can be irrepressible. (Thankfully my New York congregation seems to like it, and my closest friends at least grudgingly tolerate it.)

This week’s portion (Beshallah) and its Song of the Sea seem ready-made for this Torah-liturgy two-fer of joy.

Morning and evening, traditional liturgy after the Shema brings us to the Sea of Reeds (Ex. 14). We reach the shore of entrapping finitude and then, with holy help, we’re invited to see the impossible into being. By suspending disbelief and experiencing the miracle, we can go free again and again. This journey from bondage to freedom is the journey of Jewish Read More >

11 01, 2019

Parashat Bo 5779

By Rabbi Heidi Hoover|2019-01-11T22:59:54-05:00January 11, 2019|

A D’var Torah for Parashat Bo
By Rabbi Heidi Hoover (’11)

In this week’s Torah portion, Bo, we are in the midst of the dramatic story of the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt, when they go from slavery to freedom. Because it is the story we retell at Passover, it is one of the most familiar in the Torah. God frees the Israelites “with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm” (Psalm 136:12).

In parashat Bo, the last three of the ten plagues befall the Egyptians: locusts, darkness, and the death of the first-born. The penultimate plague, darkness, seems like it might be less destructive than the other two. After all, it gets dark every night, and we all get through it. But this wasn’t like that regular, natural darkness. This was three solid days of “darkness that can be touched” (Exodus 10:21). “A person could not see his brother or sister, and for Read More >

4 01, 2019

Parashat Va’era 5779

By Rabbi Irwin Huberman|2019-01-04T09:51:02-05:00January 4, 2019|

Hearing more voices in the Passover story
A D’var Totah for Parashat Va’era
By Rabbi Irwin Huberman (’10)

The story of the enslavement of Jewish people in Egypt is perhaps one of the most powerful stories within the entire Torah. It is the stuff of heroes and villains, slavery and liberation.

It has captured the imagination of those across many faiths and cultural backgrounds, and continues to inspire Passover – perhaps the most observed holiday across all of Judaism.

Yet, there are so many gaps and unanswered questions.

Indeed, while this week’s Parashah, Va’era (And God appeared) engages us in a thrilling narrative of miracles and plagues, there is perhaps one central perspective which is sorely lacking: “Where are the voices of the Israelites and Egyptians – those who were the most affected by this dramatic story of slavery and human suffering?”

Isn’t it interesting that the entire Passover story is told almost exclusively through three main characters: Moses, Read More >

All shall unite to do God's will with an open heart.

All shall unite to do God's will with an open heart.

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