Divrei Torah Archives | Academy for Jewish Religion

5 04, 2026

Parashat Shemini – 5786

By Marisa Amith|2026-04-05T18:20:30-04:00April 5, 2026|

Before God: The Risk of Sacred Nearness

A D’var Torah for Parashat Shemini

By Rabbi Anat Katzir

Parashat Shemini confronts us with one of the Torah’s most unsettling phrases. After Nadav and Avihu offer what the text calls אש זרה eish zarah, “strange/foreign fire,” we read:

״ ותצא אש מלפני ה׳ וימותו לפני ה׳״“Vateitzei eish milifnei Adonai… vayamutu lifnei Adonai.”
Fire came forth from before God, and they died before God. (Leviticus 10:2)

The phrase “lifnei Adonai” appears three times in two verses. Nadav and Avihu bring their offering “lifnei Adonai.” The fire emerges “milifnei Adonai”. They die “lifnei Adonai.”

The repetition is deliberate and disquieting. The same preposition: “lifnei”, describes both their location and the origin of the consuming fire. They stand in proximity to divine Presence, and that very proximity becomes lethal. The text offers no psychological exposition, no extended moral explanation or intention. It gives us instead a linguistic pattern: before God, from before God, before God.

On a peshat level, lifnei means “before” or Read More >

30 03, 2026

D’var Torah Pesah – 5786

By Marisa Amith|2026-03-30T15:06:53-04:00March 30, 2026|

From Spectators to Stakeholders: The Architecture of Spiritual Freedom

A D’var Torah for Pesah

By Rabbi Scott “Shalom” Klein

The festival of Pesah serves as the foundational narrative of our people, transitioning us from the degradation of “Avadim Hayinu” (we were slaves) to the existential responsibility of a free nation. While the Seder night focuses on the historical memory of the Exodus, the deeper theological challenge lies in the internal transformation required to sustain that freedom. By examining the Haggadah’s insistence on personal identification with the past and the Netivot Shalom’s (Rabbi Sholom Noah Berezovsky) insights on the nature of spiritual liberation, we find a timeless blueprint for leadership and communal resilience.

The central command of the evening is found in the Mishnah (Pesahim 10:5): “בְּכָל דּוֹר וָדוֹר חַיָּב אָדָם לִרְאוֹת אֶת עַצְמוֹ כְאִלּוּ הוּא יָצָא מִמִּצְרַיִם” ”—”In every generation, one is obligated to see oneself as if he personally went out from Egypt.” This is not merely a call to Read More >

25 03, 2026

Parashat Tzav – 5786

By Marisa Amith|2026-03-25T13:20:09-04:00March 25, 2026|

The Chain of Command

A D’var Torah for Parashat Tzav

By Cantor Sandy Horowitz

Sometimes we think about Torah on a macro level as the story of our people, our system of laws, the foundation of our heritage. Other times, we explore a particular theme or individual or delve into the weekly parashah. With this week’s Torah portion a single verse from Parashat Tzav stood out for me – in particular, a single word.

At this point in our narrative Moses is undergoing the rituals, as commanded by God, of formally consecrating his brother Aaron and Aaron’s sons as priests. We read of three sacrificial offerings:

First, Moses brings forth a bull for the sin offering and we read:

וַיִּשְׁחָ֗ט וַיִּקַּ֨ח מֹשֶׁ֤ה אֶת־הַדָּם֙

“And it was slaughtered. Moses took the blood…” (Lev. 8:15)

Moses then brings a ram for the burnt offering:

וַיִּשְׁחָ֑ט וַיִּזְרֹ֨ק מֹשֶׁ֧ה אֶת־הַדָּ֛ם

“And it was slaughtered. Moses dashed the blood [against the altar]” (Lev. 8:19)

Finally, in Read More >

9 03, 2026

Parshiyot Vayakhel-Pekudei 5786

By Marisa Amith|2026-03-09T10:23:39-04:00March 9, 2026|

A D’var Torah for Parshiyot Vayakhel-Pekudei

By Rabbi Dr. Matthew Goldstone

Parashat Vayakhel begins with a discussion of Shabbat that barely adds new information. Of the two verses that appear here about Shabbat, one of them (Exod. 35:2) reiterates information that we learned just a few chapters ago (i.e., Exod. 31:15) and the other seems to only provide a single example of what constitutes work – i.e., lighting fire. So why this emphasis on something that largely appears to repeat what we already know?

Starting with the verse that provides new information (Exod. 35:3), we can ask what is so special about kindling fire that the Torah singles this out as a key prohibition for Shabbat? In some ways fire is the quintessential catalyst for transformative work. Fire cooks food, tempers metal, and allows for a plethora of technologies. The modern equivalent is perhaps electricity (understood by some traditional posekim to be Read More >

2 03, 2026

Parashat Ki Tissa 5786

By Marisa Amith|2026-03-02T12:26:10-05:00March 2, 2026|

Found in Translation

A D’var Torah for Parashat Ki Tissa
Rabbi Wendy Love Anderson

The seven standard Shabbat morning aliyot of Parashat Ki Tissa are always unbalanced: the first and second aliyah are disproportionately long so that the second aliyah – traditionally assigned to a Levite – can encompass all 47 embarrassing verses of the Golden Calf incident, Israel’s greatest mistake at that point in its history, and a story in which only the Levites come out looking good. But the Golden Calf story was creating problems for Torah readers long before the standardization of an annual Torah-reading cycle. Mishnah Megillah 4:10 includes it in a list of shameful or confusing Biblical passages, some of which are read aloud in Hebrew and translated into Aramaic for general comprehension, some of which are read but not translated, and some of which are neither read nor translated. The Golden Calf incident is unique in that the Read More >

23 02, 2026

Parashat Tetzaveh 5786

By Marisa Amith|2026-02-23T14:21:08-05:00February 23, 2026|

Gemstones and Judgements

A D’var Torah for Parashat Tetzaveh

By Rabbi Dorit Edut

Although the expression “Carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders” is attributed to the Greek god Atlas, I want to propose that it has a much earlier source: the wearing of the gemstone-studded breastplate by the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest, in the biblical Temple and Tabernacle. It was a physically weighty garment, but that was intentional since the High Priest wore this when turning to God in prayer for the whole Israelite community – a weighty responsibility indeed. It was made also to hold the Urim and Thummim, the special rods which would be used to receive a Divine answer to difficult problems or situations where human decision-making was stuck. But the Hebrew name for this breastplate – Hoshen Mishpat- refers to not only the importance of making clear decisions but also to atoning for the sin of perverting Read More >

16 02, 2026

Parashat Terumah -5786

By Marisa Amith|2026-02-16T11:56:43-05:00February 16, 2026|

Facing Each Other

A D’var Torah for Parashat Terumah

Rabbi Dr. Rachel Posner (AJR ’25)

This week the Israelites are given instructions for a monumental building project:

וְעָ֥שׂוּ לִ֖י מִקְדָּ֑שׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּ֖י בְּתוֹכָֽם׃

And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. (Exodus 25:8)

The story of the Mishkan – our portable container for holiness – is told twice in the Bible: first as a set of instructions, a kind of how-to guide, and later as a description of how the Israelites carried the instructions out. This building project is the key element to becoming a community, not a disparate group of people but A People that beats with one heart.

What makes a project sacred? Sure, assembling those Kallax shelves or Kivik sofa might bring you closer together (or result in filing for divorce) – but is it holy work? Some building projects are ordinary. A few are holy. And some turn out to Read More >

9 02, 2026

Parashat Mishpatim – Shabbat Shekalim – 5786

By Marisa Amith|2026-02-09T13:46:34-05:00February 9, 2026|

A D’var Torah for Parashat Mishpatim – Shabbat Shekalim

By Rabbi Anat Katzir

Reading the laws presented in the parashah this week was an opening to struggle with some of the discomfort caused by what feels like a gap of values between my world and the biblical one. It is through grappling with the reality of ancient history, and with the input from generations of Rabbinic leadership that followed, that I can see how behind the laws there are similar values and shared truths that needed to be redefined and amended through time and space. It is a lesson in context and adaptation of values over eras and cultures, and also a struggle with finding ways to overcome the gaps between Jewish communities of different interpretations, when it comes to understanding communal responsibilities and sharing the burdens of sustaining a modern-day state while finding guidance in ancient law.

When working with b-mitzvah students, the question Read More >

2 02, 2026

Parashat Yitro 5786

By Marisa Amith|2026-02-02T13:59:31-05:00February 2, 2026|

K’Ish Ehad: Organizational Infrastructure as a Path to Unity

A D’var Torah for Parashat Yitro

By Rabbi Scott “Shalom” Klein

Parashat Yitro stands as the essential fulcrum of the Book of Exodus, marking the transition from a newly liberated population to a covenanted nation at the foot of Sinai. This portion offers a profound exploration of the nature of communal leadership, the ethics of delegation, and the radical openness required to receive the Divine law. By examining the structural wisdom of an outsider and the communal unity required for the Aseret HaDibrot, we find a timeless blueprint for the rabbinate, particularly for those serving in the pluralistic environments of the military or the intimate settings of small-town pulpits.

The Parashah begins with a singular focus on an outsider through the words “וַיִּשְׁמַע יִתְרוֹ”—”And Yitro heard” (Exodus 18:1). While the entire world heard of the Exodus, the Midrash in Zevahim 116a asks what specifically Yitro Read More >

26 01, 2026

Parashat Beshallah 5786

By Marisa Amith|2026-01-26T17:50:30-05:00January 26, 2026|

Lighting the Way

A D’var Torah for Parashat Beshallah

By Cantor Sandy Horowitz (’14)

In our busy, often digital-driven lives, we tend to forget to pause and take note of the wonders of creation around us and above us. Yet, opportunities abound: when we pray the words from the morning liturgy “yotzer or u’vorei hoshekh” (“Creator of light and Fashioner of darkness”), we might pause and look out the window; when we are out at night, we could look up and take note of the phase of the moon, reflecting on its connection to the Hebrew month. Taking the time to watch the sun set can be a wondrous and profound experience – the sky slowly changing color as the sun gradually sets behind the horizon and disappears, and the colors continue to change until it is finally fully dark.

Often, we’re too involved in the business of our daily life to stop and take note. 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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