וְיֵעָשׂוּ כֻלָּם אֲגֻדָּה אֶחָת לַעֲשׂוֹת רְצוֹנְךָ בְּלֵבָב שָׁלֵם

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

וְיֵעָשׂוּ כֻלָּם אֲגֻדָּה אֶחָת לַעֲשׂוֹת רְצוֹנְךָ בְּלֵבָב שָׁלֵם

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

Divrei Torah

5 12, 2017

Parashat Vayeshev, 5778

2017-12-05T12:08:08-05:00

The Dreams of Joseph and Solomon
A D’var Torah for Vayeshev
Rabbi Jill Hammer

Many have suggested that events in the Book of Genesis are intertextual with events in the Book of Samuel. For example, the ketonet pasim, the colorful striped coat that Joseph wears as his brothers betray him and sell him into slavery, has a direct relationship with the ketonet pasim, the colorful striped coat that Tamar daughter of David wears as her brother Amnon betrays and rapes her. In fact, in Tanakh there are the only two “striped coats” (the Hebrew word pas may mean “to divide into parts”).

Both coats are torn. Joseph’s brothers tear his in an effort to fake his death, and Tamar tears hers in mourning for what has happened to her. Joseph and Tamar, both betrayed by siblings, must be read in light of one another. It is not even clear which text we should read first. As Read More >

Parashat Vayeshev, 57782017-12-05T12:08:08-05:00
28 11, 2017

Parashat Vayishlah, 5778

2017-11-28T15:43:44-05:00

 

Not as Bad as We Expected
A D’var Torah for Vayishlah
by Rabbi Heidi Hoover

In this week’s Torah portion, Vayishlah, Jacob and his family return to his homeland, and Jacob anticipates his reunion with his brother Esau. It’s been more than 20 years since Jacob ran away from his brother’s anger, after having stolen their father’s blessing. He is afraid to meet Esau again, afraid that Esau will still be angry. When they do meet, the text says, “Esau ran to greet him. He embraced him and, falling on his neck, he kissed him; and they wept” (Genesis 33:4).

The Hebrew word for the phrase, “he kissed him” has dots in the text over each letter. The rabbis interpret this as having meaning. In Midrash Rabba, Rabbi Shimon ben Eleazar says this “teaches that he kissed him with all his heart.” Rabbi Yannai disagrees, saying, “It teaches however, that he wished to Read More >

Parashat Vayishlah, 57782017-11-28T15:43:44-05:00
21 11, 2017

Parashat Vayetzei, 5778

2017-11-21T15:40:05-05:00

 

Jacob and Laban: The Struggle between Past and Future
A D’var Torah for Vayetzei
by Rabbi Bruce Alpert

People who join my Shabbat morning Torah study – particularly those who have never engaged in such study before – are often amazed to discover that they are free to form their own opinions about the Biblical text and the characters who inhabit it. Often, they use this new-found freedom to decide they don’t like our patriarch Jacob. His conditional acceptance of God at the beginning of this week’s parashah, along with his various deceptions and favoritisms, form their bill of particulars against the man.

Opposed to this position stand the rabbis and their view of Jacob’s antagonist. “Go and learn what Laban the Aramean did to our father Jacob,” declares the Passover Haggadah. In its telling, Laban stands a step below Pharaoh in the Jewish annals of infamy.

Strong opinions, then, exist on both sides of Read More >

Parashat Vayetzei, 57782017-11-21T15:40:05-05:00
14 11, 2017

Parashat Toldot, 5778

2017-11-14T09:43:24-05:00

We’ll Always Have Parents: 2017
A D’var Torah for Toldot
by Rabbi Rena H. Kieval

In the classic movie Casablanca, the ill-fated lovers played by Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman share these words of comfort: “We’ll always have Paris.” A playful poem by Mary Jo Salter uses that line to make a point. The poem, titled, “We’ll Always Have Parents,” notes that, “We’ll always have them…they’re in our baggage.” The poem calls to mind what a wise and learned person once told me: that no matter how old we are, most of us shape our lives in response to our parents. We may define ourselves in a positive way by who our parents were, and what they taught us, and we may also define ourselves against who our parents were, and what they taught us. Most of us are driven and shaped by mixed legacies. Whatever those legacies are, “we’ll always have parents.”

Parashat Toldot reflects this Read More >

Parashat Toldot, 57782017-11-14T09:43:24-05:00
9 11, 2017

Parshat Hayei Sara, 5778

2017-11-09T10:45:40-05:00
Hospitality: Judaism’s Family Business
by Rabbi Irwin Huberman

 

It was twenty years ago that my wife and I learned from two young children one of the most important values within all of Judaism.

It’s a lesson embodied in this week’s Parashah, Hayei Sarah-and it may well be a central pillar of what has allowed Jewish tradition to endure and evolve over thousands of years.

I remember that chilly winter night, long before I entered the rabbinate, when the local Chabad rabbi invited my wife and me for Shabbat dinner.

We were obviously nervous.

Would we say something wrong?  Would we stumble when asked to recite the Sabbath blessings?  These questions and a dozen more like them seemed to fill the air as we made our way up our hosts’ driveway.

As we approached the front steps, the door swung open, and out flew two boys, aged nine and eleven, who grabbed our gloves and coats and hats before we’d Read More >

Parshat Hayei Sara, 57782017-11-09T10:45:40-05:00
1 11, 2017

Parshat VaYera, 5778

2017-11-01T11:18:24-04:00
by Rabbi Isaac Mann
I would like to share with you a very insightful ethical interpretation of a midrashic comment that I heard in the name of Rabbi Avraham Yaakov Pam, who was the Rosh ha-Yeshiva of Mesivta Torah Vodaath in the latter part of the 20th century.

Commenting on the verse in Genesis 21:6, which describes Sarah’s reaction to her giving birth to Isaac at the age of 90 (“G-d has brought me laughter; whoever hears about this will laugh with me”), the Midrash adds that many barren women became pregnant (literally “were remembered by G-d”) along with her, many sick were healed along with her, many prayers were answered along with her, for there was much laughter (i.e. joy) in the world (quoted by Rashi ad loc.).

The Midrash is apparently responding to the question of why would everyone who heard about Sarah’s birth erupt into joyful laughter. Surely Read More >

Parshat VaYera, 57782017-11-01T11:18:24-04:00
24 10, 2017

Parshat Lekh Lekha

2017-10-24T08:41:20-04:00
On Being a Blessing
A Dvar Torah for Lekh Lekha
By Cantor Sandy Horowitz

“I’m on the 5th floor and my window is open
and someone outside sneezed so i shouted ‘BLESS U’ out the window
and he said “THANK YOU BUILDING”
–From the twitter feed of Jonny Sun

In Parashat Lekh Lekha when Abram is called to go forth from his home God tells him, “And I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will aggrandize your name, and [you shall] be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2).

What is the significance of God saying Abram will “be a blessing”?

One might assume that the one chosen by God to “be a blessing” would be pure of character and righteous in action.  But this is not Abraham (as Abram is later renamed).

True, he is no doubt considered a blessing by his nephew Lot after he rescues Lot from captivity in Genesis Chapter 14. Read More >

Parshat Lekh Lekha2017-10-24T08:41:20-04:00
17 10, 2017

Parshat Noah

2017-10-17T11:56:45-04:00

A D’var Torah for Noah

By Rabbi Jill Hammer

Recently in one of my classes at AJR, my students and I noticed an interesting biblical paradox.  In Parashat Noah, once the flood has subsided, Noah makes a thanksgiving offering to YHWH.  YHWH smells the pleasing odor of the offering and offers a commitment: “As long as the earth endures, planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease” (Genesis 8:22). In return for Noah’s gratitude for being saved, the Divine promises that the cyclical patterns of nature, the basic foundation upon which human life rests, shall not cease.  Even before making a covenant with Noah or offering commands about human life, YHWH promises not to destroy the earth but to allow its cycles to continue.  This is a great blessing to the human beings who have been tasked with tilling and tending the earth: “l’ovdah uleshomrah”  (Genesis Read More >

Parshat Noah2017-10-17T11:56:45-04:00
10 10, 2017

Parshat Bereshit

2017-10-10T20:51:45-04:00
The Ultimate Framing Narrative
A Dvar Torah for Bereshit
By Rabbi Lenny Levin

 

 
“In the beginning God created heavens and earth.” (Gen. 1:1)

 

“Who am I?” The answer to this question takes a narrative form. I am [fill in the name]. I grew up in such-and-such a family, went to such-and-such schools, have had such-and-such experiences and accomplishments. I belong to [one or more religious-ethnic backgrounds]. My [great-]-grandparents came here in 19xx. Our group had a history of so-many centuries in such-and-such a place. My personal narrative is embedded in family and group narratives, extending backwards through receding horizons.

 

Our teacher Rabbi Neil Gillman said it’s all narrative. We live our lives as narrative. When asked to tell someone (a date, an employer, a therapist, a chance encounter) something Read More >
Parshat Bereshit2017-10-10T20:51:45-04:00
26 06, 2017

Parashat Hukkat

2017-06-26T14:14:17-04:00

On the Threshold of Eternity
A Dvar Torah for Hukkat
by Rabbi Len Levin

“He who touches the corpse of any human being shall be unclean for seven days…” (Num. 19:11)

For an entire lifetime, one builds up a network of interactions with others in society, a network comprising commerce, family, edifices of knowledge, productive endeavor, life in the public square, a living, breathing complex of order, structure, creative output. When one dies, one takes leave of that world of social interaction and goes on a private journey to we know not where, a mysterious realm where all the bonds of this world are dissolved.

The mourner stands on the threshold of these two realms. Being touched by the recently departed, the mourner feels different. S/he cannot go back to participating at once in the activities of this world as if nothing has happened. S/he must linger a while in the liminal space between this Read More >

Parashat Hukkat2017-06-26T14:14:17-04:00
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