The AJR Center for Judaism and Science has an annual competition for the best student D’var Torah infused with science. Click here to view the entries that have won our לדעת חכמה (Lada’at Hokhmah) Award.
Parashat Bereisheet – 5786
October 13, 2025
Rabbi Scott “Shalom” Klein
A Work in Progress: God’s Ongoing Creation and Our Role in It A D’var Torah for Parashat Bereisheet By Rabbi Scott “Shalom” Klein (AJR ’24) The opening verses of Parashat Bereisheet describe a familiar scene: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” We are taught that creation unfolds over seven days, each marked by a specific act of divine utterance and artistry. From the light to the firmament, from the trees to the stars, we witness a world being meticulously brought into being. And then, on the seventh day, God rests. The story seems complete. Yet, a closer look reveals that the creation narrative is not simply a historical account of a completed event. The text states: “Vayekhal Elohim bayom ha-shevi’i melakhto asher asah”—”God completed (or ceased from) on the seventh day His work that He had done” (Genesis 2:2). This specific choice of the root k.l.h (כ.ל.ה) for “completed/ceased” (often translated...
Parashat Bereisheet 5785
October 21, 2024
Rabbi Marge Wise (AJR '21)
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?
Parashat Bereisheet 5784
October 16, 2023
Dr. Yakir Englander
It was morning in the Mount Scopus neighborhood of Jerusalem, near the Hebrew University campus. Up early, I was preparing to make my first presentation as a university student participating in a course on Carl Jung. I was analyzing a Talmud passage in which Rabbi Yohanan is arguing with his disciple, Resh Lakish, about whether knives and swords are considered ritually unclean.
Parashat Bereisheet 5784
October 9, 2023
Rabbi Enid C. Lader
וַיִּקְרָ֛א יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶל־הָֽאָדָ֑ם וַיֹּ֥אמֶר ל֖וֹ אַיֶּֽכָּה׃
The ETERNAL God called to the human and said to him:
Ayekha? (Gen. 3:9)
Parashat Bereisheet – 5783
October 19, 2022
Click HERE for an audio recording of this D’var Torah What Cain Learned A D’var Torah for Parashat Beresheet By Dr. Yakir Englander In the Genesis story, we find Cain and Abel in a field. There the elder brother, Cain, kills Abel, the younger. Midrash Rabbah (22) on this passage remarks that Cain does not know how to take the life of another human person. So, he decides to imitate his brother, slaughtering him in the same way he had seen Abel himself slaughter animals as sacrificial offerings to God. When that same God questions Cain, after the murder, it is with either an utter innocence or with a calculated intent to cross-examine the killer: “Where is your brother Abel?” And Cain responds, without batting an eyelid: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9) It is a disturbing passage. As a Jewish theologian, I have always felt that this dialogue between Cain and God has an irrational...
