A D’var Torah for Parashat Ha’azinu By Rabbi Dr. Matthew Goldstone Prayer fills the season of repentance and it is at this point in the calendar when we read Moses’ final prayer, the last song before his demise: Ha’azinu. It is fitting that Ha’azinu aligns with this season as it includes praise for God, but also recognition of people’s mistakes – some of the main themes of the high holidays. One verse in particular calls out to us at this moment (Deut. 32:20): וַיֹּאמֶר אַסְתִּירָה פָנַי מֵהֶם אֶרְאֶה מָה אַחֲרִיתָם (I will hide My countenance from them, And see how they fare in the end…). Ibn Ezra points out two dramatically opposed ways of reading this verse. One way to understand this verse is that Read More >

Caring and Compassion A D’var Torah for Parshiyot Nitzavim-Vayeilekh By Cantor Sandy Horowitz For verse after verse Moses has been speaking to the Israelites in the form of commandments and exhortations, the threat of curse and the promise of blessing. Parashat Vayeilekh brings a different tone, somewhat softer, as we near the end of our annual Torah reading cycle.  (Spoiler alert – there will be more exhortations after this! But for now, let’s take a pause.) For forty years Moses has led the Israelites on their journey towards the promised land. He has reached the age of 120, and his life, like our Torah cycle, is coming to an end.  As the people prepare to cross the river Jordan, Moses has been told by God Read More >

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 >