Parashat Bereisheet 5785
What does it mean to be accountable, to take responsibility? Is it a Jewish imperative? Is it a secular concept? Whom does it apply to and in what circumstances?
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10, 2024
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09, 2024
Parashat Ha’azinu – 5785
Calling G-d “The Rock” seems such a familiar expression that you might expect to see it a lot in the Torah. But it is not until this week, in Parashat Ha’azinu - at almost the end of the Torah - that we first hear G-d referred to as “The Rock”:
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09, 2024
Parshiyot Nitzavim-Vayelekh 5784
What does it mean to “choose life”?
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09, 2024
Parashat Ki Tavo 5784
Parashat Ki Tavo, which we read this week, outlines a series of blessings contingent upon following God’s commandments and a series of curses for disobedience. This serves as a warning of what to expect upon entering the Promised Land.
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09, 2024
Parashat Ki Teitzei 5784
Our parashah this week opens with a somewhat disturbing series on scenarios – a man takes a captured woman and makes her his wife, a man with two wives tries to favor the child of his preferred wife, and a rebellious son is killed for not listening to his parents. Rashi, based on Midrash Tanhuma, explains that this sequence is interconnected – forcing this woman to be his wife will lead to hatred and attempting to disinherit her son, leading to a rebellious child.
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09, 2024
Parashat Shoftim 5784
All rabbis have their favorite traditional Jewish texts that they seek to teach at every opportunity. One of my favorites is found in the Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 34a, which addresses when worshippers should bow when reciting the Amidah, the standing prayer that is the centerpiece of every Jewish worship service.
The passage begins by noting an early tradition that a person should bow four times during the Amidah: at the beginning and conclusion of the first blessing (Avot), and at the beginning and conclusion of the blessing of Thanksgiving (Modim) which is the Amidah’s next-to-last blessing. If someone seeks to bow more often than this, they should be instructed not to; four times is enough.
Then, however, some later scholars (Amoraim) express that they learned the tradition slightly differently. The above scheme of bowing four times during the Amidah is specifically for ordinary people. However, a High Priest should bow at the end of each blessing — or, Read More >
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08, 2024
Parashat Re’eh 5784
See, this day I set before you blessing and curse: blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Eternal your God that I enjoin upon you this day; and curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Eternal your God, but turn away from the path that I enjoin upon you this day and follow other gods, whom you have not experienced. (Deut. 11:26-28)
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08, 2024
Parashat Eikev 5784
Parashat Eikev brings to mind a personal remembrance – it was the first parashah which I called by its name!
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08, 2024
Parashat Vaethanan 5784
The phrase “going above and beyond” may conjure up images of the superstar friend, neighbor, or colleague who brings a smile to our face when we think about the ways that they have been there for us and others over the years. Rabbis, cantors, and Jewish leaders in particular so often go above and beyond in the time and energy that they dedicate to their sacred work.
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08, 2024
Parashat Devarim 5784
For Father’s Day this year, my children signed me up with a website called, Storyworth. Every week, they send me a prompt question (chosen by my daughter) to write about. At the end of the year, all the answers are assembled in a book. The first prompt question was, “What was it like learning to drive?” This is going to be easy, I thought.
