Divrei Torah Archives | Page 45 of 78 | Academy for Jewish Religion

2 11, 2012

Parashat VaYera

By ahsilver|2012-11-02T09:10:01-04:00November 2, 2012|

By Rabba Kaya Stern-Kaufman

This week’s Torah portion tells the story of several crisis points in the life of one ancient family. As the parashah opens, the family constellation includes husband Abraham, first wife- Sarah, surrogate mother-Hagar and the firstborn son of Hagar and Abraham-Ishmael. The text begins with the annunciation of Isaac’s birth. As foretold, Sarah miraculously becomes pregnant and gives birth to Isaac at the age of 90. It is difficult to imagine the complicated dynamics in this unusual family situation. As the story unravels before us, so too do these relationships that have been tenuously held together by the need to ensure the future lineage of Abraham.

For thirteen years Ishmael was the treasured firstborn. Though his mother was first a servant in the household, one might wonder what has become of her status over these years. As the mother of Abraham’s firstborn, what kind of relationship do she and Abraham Read More >

24 10, 2012

Parashat Noah

By Rabbi Len Levin|2012-10-24T11:58:39-04:00October 24, 2012|

Testament for Universal Humanity
By Rabbi Len Levin

The Portion of Noah concludes the Torah’s universalistic preamble to the narrative of the Jewish people. Though clearly written from a Jewish perspective, it nowhere mentions Israel or Jewry. Abram and Sarai are mentioned at the very end, as among the descendants of the line of Shem, a harbinger of the national narrative of Israel which is to follow. These eleven chapters offer a narrative of the genesis of humanity, with numerous lessons, explicit and implicit, for their moral guidance. They are addressed to all humanity, and have been accepted as a spiritual testament by the Western monotheistic faiths comprising over half the human race.

In Jewish vocabulary, bnei Noah (Noahides, or descendants of Noah) is a technical term. Descriptively, it denotes the entire human race, who according to the Biblical narrative are all descendants of Adam and Eve, but also of Noa Read More >

12 10, 2012

Parashat Bereshit

By ahsilver|2012-10-12T18:22:17-04:00October 12, 2012|

The Story of Creation

By Rabbi Judith Edelstein

For rabbis and cantors – as well as for many congregants who are involved in synagogue life, this is the most challenging and stressful time of year. No sooner have we rabbis concluded our Academy Award winning soliloquies and day of starvation than we have to change out of our kittels, or gowns, and go from the divine to the arcane as we wave an odd assortment of flora up, down, left, and right. Talk about stress, pity the left-right dyslexic and large-picture thinkers among us! The grand finale, immense commotion and ceremony surrounding the sacred scrolls before we slump into hol, the daily routine.

How do we keep the energy going? What magic gets us out of bed and keeps us on the bimah following the high drama of these weeks? What I grapple with the most, however, because I only have High Holiday responsibilities, is: How do I maintain Read More >

4 10, 2012

Shemini Atzeret

By Rabbi Isaac Mann|2012-10-04T18:19:01-04:00October 4, 2012|

By Rabbi Isaac Mann

In this D’var Torah I would like to expand upon an interesting insight into the character of Shemini Atzeret based on a teaching that I heard from my beloved teacher Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, of blessed memory, affectionately referred to by his students as “the Rav.”

Rabbi Soloveitchik addressed the rather perplexing phenomenon of a large segment of observant Jews disregarding the clearly stated halakhah that requires Jews living outside the land of Israel to have their meals in the Sukkah (as well as sleep there) on Shemini Atzeret as they would during the holiday of Sukkot albeit without the recitation of the blessing of leisheiv ba-Sukkah (“to dwell in the Sukkah“). This halakhic rule is based on the conclusion of a talmudic discussion (Sukkah 47a) and is codified in Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah (Hilkhot Sukkah 6:13) as well as in the Shulhan Arukh (Orah Hayyim 668:1) without any dissension from Read More >

20 09, 2012

Yom Kippur

By Rabbi Len Levin|2012-09-20T17:10:52-04:00September 20, 2012|

Many Little Things-One Big Thing

By Rabbi Len Levin

“May all Your creatures unite in a single band, to perform Your will wholeheartedly” (from the Uv’khen prayer in the Yom Kippur Amidah).

Jewish thought is a rich network of debates on fundamental issues. I was fortunate to be able to work with Rabbi Gordon Tucker on translating Abraham Joshua Heschel’s Heavenly Torah,an encyclopedic work that reveals the rich tapestry of debate of the rabbis and later Jewish thinkers about fundamental issues of theological outlook within Judaism.

One of the fundamental debates running throughout Jewish thought is: Does God require many little things of us, or a few big things? In the grand theophany at Sinai, did God reveal all the 613 precepts of the Torah? Or did God reveal the ten great principles that underlie all Jewish law, and reserve the explication of the details to Moses later in the Tent of Meeting?

A similar Read More >

6 09, 2012

Parashat Ki Tavo

By ahsilver|2012-09-06T17:42:49-04:00September 6, 2012|

In this week’s Torah portion 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 – 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 up to those on Mt. Gerizim with a series of blessings that will result from choices to live a life of mitzvot, ethical behavior, honesty and support for the disenfranchised within the community. This is followed by a much more detailed set of Read More >

31 08, 2012

Parashat Ki Tetze

By Rabbi Isaac Mann|2012-08-31T00:11:29-04:00August 31, 2012|

by Rabbi Isaac Mann

Parashat Ki Tetze is replete with laws and regulations, some of which are found elsewhere in the Torah and some of which are partially or completely new. It would appear that the section towards the end of the parashah (Deut. 25:13-16) that deals with honest weights and measures is of the former type. The Torah here specifies that one may not have two types of weighing stones in one’s pouch – a large one and a small one (even gedolah u’ketanah) – nor may one have two types of ephahs (an ephah is an ancient Hebrew measure) in one’s home – a large one and a small one (ephah gedolah u’ketanah). These items were used for weighing and measuring merchandise that was bought and sold. But rather one must have only an honest stone (even shelemah va-tzedek) and an honest ephah (ephah shelemah va-tzedek).

As Rashi explains, quoting the Sifre Read More >

24 08, 2012

Parashat Shoftim

By ahsilver|2012-08-24T16:13:01-04:00August 24, 2012|

By Rabbi Judith Edelstein

Within the last few weeks I, and most likely many of you, have been barraged with email messages asking for donations to the presidential campaign. Initially I read the messages with a skeptical eye, planning to contribute a minimal amount at some future date. However, after viewing notes of alarm in the most recent subject lines, I began to panic. Can my small contribution possibly help any candidate to win against the behemoth fundraising machines in which individuals are contributing tens of millions of dollars, I wondered.

Nonetheless, despite my better instincts and my loathing for the way in which campaigns are financed in the United States, believing that the government should pay for them to create an even playing field for all potential candidates, not just those connected to wealth, I broke down and made a modest donation. After all what if my candidate loses because I was cheap? Read More >

16 08, 2012

Parashat Re’eh

By ahsilver|2012-08-16T23:12:55-04:00August 16, 2012|

Expanding Spiritual Consciousness
By Rabbi Bob Freedman

In Parashat Va’ethanan we are told that even when we are exiles scattered among peoples who worship gods of wood and stone, “If you search there for YHVH your God you will find God, if you seek with all your heart and all your soul” (4:29). One can seek God in any place, it seems, even the most unlikely.

However, Deuteronomy also demands the strict centralization of worship into one place. The ruling appears for the first time in our parashah but is repeated throughout the book. Verse 12:2 stipulates the obliteration of worship places scattered throughout the country. Referring to worship described in 12:2-3 that happened “on high mountains, hills, or under luxuriant trees,” 12:4 rules “Do not worship YHVH your God in this way.” Rather, we are directed (12:5, 11 and subsequently) to make our offerings only at the place where God chooses l’shaken et Read More >

9 08, 2012

Parashat Ekev

By Rabbi Isaac Mann|2012-08-09T10:50:55-04:00August 9, 2012|

Gratitude to God, Source of Our Wealth

By Rabbi Len Levin

“Beware lest your heart grow haughty…and you say to yourselves, ‘My own power and the might of my own hand have won this wealth for me.’ Remember that it is the Lord your God who gives you the power to get wealth…” (Deuteronomy 8:14-18).

On first sight, the portion Ekev-like most of the first eleven and last six chapters of Deuteronomy-appears purely sermonic in character. A sermon offers ethical inspiration and goals that are commendable to strive for.Â But we draw a vital distinction between ethics and law.Â Ethics teaches what is commendable but to some degree optional; law lays down what is obligatory.Â In classic Jewish parlance, ethics is in the realm of agada, law is coterminous with halakha.

But is the distinction so hard and fast?Â The medieval work Sefer Ha-Hinnukh comprises a discussion of the 613 commandments of the Torah 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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