Softening the Heart A D’var Torah for Parashat Bo By Rabba Kaya Stern-Kaufman (AJR '11) This week’s Torah portion, Bo, begins in the midst of the plagues against Egypt but with a clear distinction from the previous seven plagues. In last week’s parashah (Torah portion) we learn that despite the experience of each plague upon the land, animals and people of Egypt, Pharoah responds by hardening his heart to the plight of the Israelites and to Moses' demands for them to leave Egypt. This week’s parashah begins with God's declaration: והכבדתי את לבו - and I will harden his (Pharoah's) heart. It appears as if God is tampering with Pharoah's free will. This poses theological difficulties for most readers. I would like to suggest a Read More >

A D’var Torah for Parashat Vaeira Rabbi Wendy Love Anderson Just A Number At the beginning of Parashat Vaeira, the Torah detours from its ongoing Exodus narrative to provide genealogies for Moses and Aaron and recapitulate their divine appointment to bring the Israelites out of Egypt. At the very end of this digression, though, there’s an unexpected piece of information: “Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three, when they made their demand on Pharaoh” (Exod. 7:7). What do Moses and Aaron’s ages have to do with the Exodus? A plausible academic theory is that this information was inserted in an effort to harmonize the details of Moses’ biography: while he has a wife and young children when God commissions him in Exodus 3-4, Read More >

The Burning Bush – The Thorny Entrance to Leadership’s Path A D’var Torah for Parashat Shemot By Rabbi Dorit Edut (AJR 2006) As you enter my living room, a print of Chagall’s Moses and The Burning Bush greets you. It is a simply constructed painting, with a very bright colorful burning bush (oranges, reds, yellows) next to a kneeling figure of Moses, in a metallic blue robe, hand on his heart, and looking out at you with an amazed expression. Above the bush are the letters of the Tetragrammaton encircled, while a small green angelic figure waves downwards, and some random small sheep float off to one side.  While Chagall grew up in a religious home in Vitebsk, Russia (now Belarus), he certainly adds his Read More >

Blessing Our Children A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayehi By Rabbi Dr. Rachel Posner In my new role as a congregational rabbi, I have the incredible honor of working with conversion students—people choosing Judaism. Yesterday I met with one of my students, Tom, who is nearing the culmination of the process and preparing to meet with the Beit Din. We met to talk about his choice of a Hebrew name. Tom decided to take the name Yaakov, because Jacob’s God-wrestling resonated deeply with him. Wonderful. Once that question was resolved, I asked Tom to consider the names of his Jewish parents. In our tradition, after all, our name is never merely Jacob or Rachel. Every Jewish name includes the name of one’s parents—an acknowledgment of Read More >