A D’var Torah for Parashat Tzav

By Rabbi Susan Elkodsi (AJR ’15)

One of the beautiful and amazing things about Torah study is that every time I encounter a parashah, I see something I hadn’t noticed before. This year is no different. As I began reading Parashat Tzav, where Moses is told to command–Tzav–Aaron to keep a perpetual fire–an aish tamid–burning on the altar all night until morning, I noticed that this requirement is mentioned three times in the first six verses.

I also noticed that not only does the Torah command us to eat matza brie, the “recipe” is included:

עַֽל־ מַחֲבַ֗ת בַּשֶּׁ֛מֶן תֵּעָשֶׂ֖ה מֻרְבֶּ֣כֶת תְּבִיאֶ֑נָּה תֻּפִינֵי֙ מִנְחַ֣ת פִּתִּ֔ים תַּקְרִ֥יב רֵֽיחַ־נִיחֹ֖חַ לה’׃

“On a griddle, with oil, it is to be made, well-stirred are you to bring it, as baked crumbled-bits of grain you are to bring-it-near, a soothing savor for YHWH.” (Lev. 6:14, Fox Translation).

Somewhere along the line I got the idea Read More >

Receiving the Call

A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayikra

By Rabbi Rena Kieval (AJR ’06)

It begins with a call. We are at the center of the Torah, the Book of Leviticus, and Moshe has just overseen the elaborate construction of the mishkan. Now that the sanctuary is complete, God will relay to Moshe and to the kohanim, in painstaking detail, the rituals and rules to be practiced in that sacred space. But first, there is a call to Moshe, a call which gives this book of the Torah and this parashah their name, Vayikra. Why the call? What does it mean to us to be called? Many of us have felt called to serve, to carry out a specific role, or called more generally to be our best selves. Who, or what, calls us, and how do we receive that call? Two curious features in the opening verse of our parashah help us explore these questions.

The first verse of our parashah contains two verbs of speech Read More >

Both Sides Now

A D’var Torah for Parashat Pekudei

By Cantor Robin Anne Joseph

Let’s look at clouds. From all sides now. Shall we?

Clouds are—what? The presence of God? A cover for God? A signal from God? In Parashat Pekudei, they are D) All of the above. And then some.

One cloud in particular makes a brief, but spectacular, cameo appearance as the curtain comes down on the second “act” (Book) of the Five Books of Moses. Not just any cloud, not just a cloud, but The Cloud (הֶעָנָ֖ן). As much a supporting actor in the Torah as anyone (or anything) else, I’m continually surprised not to see the word “cloud” capitalized in the English translation whenever the article “the” precedes it.

This is not the first time that The Cloud has made an appearance in the Torah.

As early as in the Book of Genesis, when God makes a covenant, a Brit, with Noah to never again destroy the earth by flood, God sets God’s “bow in Read More >

Yishar Koah!

A D’var Torah for Parashat Ki Tissa

By Rabbi Rob Scheinberg

Among the various words and phrases you’re likely to hear in a synagogue is the phrase “Yishar koah,” sometimes pronounced as “Yashar koah” or “Yeshar koah” or even abbreviated to “Sh’koyah!” Since Talmudic times, this phrase has been a way to express praise for an achievement, even an extremely minor achievement. “Yishar” comes from the root “y.sh.r.”, meaning “upright” or “aligned,” and “koah” means “strength” or “force.” The phrase itself can be translated in a few different ways; it could be a prayer or good wish for the future, “may your strength be upright,” or it could be a complimentary statement of fact, “your strength is upright” or “your force is aligned.”

Functionally, “Yishar koah” means “you did a good job,” especially in performing a synagogue ritual-related task — whether or not it is one of the synagogue tasks that requires Read More >

Did we miss a spot?

As Moses receives instructions for the making of items for the Mishkan, the text moves from describing the wardrobe of the priests to the ritual of installing the priests in their sacred roles. It is a ritual of purification that begins with sacrificial animals and bread, clothing the priests in their sacred vestments, and then their purification, including:

“…Slaughter the ram and take some of its blood and put it on the ridge of Aaron’s right ear and on the ridges of his sons’ right ears, and on the thumbs of their right hand, and on the big toes of their right feet.” (Ex. 29:20)

Ear… Thumb… Big toe?

It is probably due to my current grandparenting responsibilities that, as I read this verse, I couldn’t help but hear, “Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb” – a book by Al Perkins, introducing toddlers Read More >

A D’var Torah for Parashat Terumah

When someone talks about a sanctuary, what comes to mind? If one uses that term for a house of worship, then images of clergy might enter one’s mind, with an Aron Kodesh, an ark containing the Torah scrolls, and the bimah with stands for the clergy to lead a prayer service. Maybe some stained glass. Definitely a window or two.

The sanctuary can be large and formal –think of Temple Emmanuel in New York City.  Or it can be small, informal and intimate such as a neighborhood shtiebel, and anywhere in between. They are places for Jewish prayer, where individuals try to get closer to God, and to each other, in prayer and song.

The term sanctuary first came into our lexicon with this week’s Torah portion, Terumah. But that sanctuary was not of an arbitrary size with rooms and fixtures which could vary. No, the first sanctuary, the Mishkan, a portable sanctuary for offerings as the Children of Israel Read More >

Promises, Promises

A D’var Torah for Parashat Mishpatim

By Rabbi Greg Schindler (AJR ’09)

While last week’s Torah portion is so famous that they made a movie about it (something with Charlton Heston), this week’s parsha – Mishpatim or “Laws” – has a very different flavor. This week, we get – count ‘em – 53 different laws on a vast array of topics. They include the treatment of servants, betrothal of handmaidens, insults, injuries, theft, loans, false witnesses, bribery, return of lost animals, land usage, festivals and many more.

Then, after 80-something verses of laws, we get the following line

(Exod 23:18-20 ): https://www.sefaria.org/Exodus.23.18-20?lang=bi&aliyot=0–

“I am going to send an angel before you to protect you on the way, and to bring you to the place that I have designated.”

Wait…what?!

You’re sending an angel before us? Where did that come from? It’s like reading the U.S. Federal Tax Code and coming across a line from Harry Potter.

Now that it has our Read More >

In this week's Torah portion, Rabbi Susan Elkodsi sees Yitro's advice to Moses as a reminder that strong and effective leaders also need to care for their own wellbeing.

In this week’s D’var Torah, Cantor Robin Anne Joseph wonders (with apologies for the gender specificity) if “to know, know, know Him is to love, love, love Him.”

As I watched live the final episode of “Kochav haba LeEurovision” and witnessed the elegant sensitivity with which they crafted this joyous occasion with the reiterated references to the last almost sixteen months that the hostages have been in captivity, I couldn’t avoid thinking of Naomi Shemer’s song “BeDamaikh Hayi”

Let me ask you this: “As a child, what did you most associate with Christmas? What about Hanukkah? Easter? Passover?” Think about the images you associated with these holidays. Then think about what an evergreen tree has to do with the birth of Jesus; or why eight gifts represent Hanukkah. And how about connecting jelly donuts with the victory of Maccabees over Assyrian King Antiochus and the Hellenistic influence over the Israelites. Better yet, what does a bunny and chocolate eggs have to do with the crucifixion of Jesus? And even more interesting, how does the happy tune of the “Frog” song reflect on the horrifying experience of the one of 10 plagues – which caused so much suffering among Egyptians?