Divrei Torah

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.

View winning divrei torah

Parashat Bereisheet – 5786

October 6, 2026

Rabbi Michael Kohn

A D’var Torah for Parashat Bereisheet By Rabbi Michael Kohn (AJR 2009) There are numerous cycles embedded within a Jewish year – the daily cycle of prayer, the weekly cycle of ordinary days and Shabbat, the monthly cycle of new moons, and the annual cycle of holidays and festivals. This week we experience another yearly cycle, as we start to read the Torah once more from the beginning. Making our way through the first six days of Creation, we learn that the word “tov”, usually translated as “good”, appears seven times. The light on the first day was tov (Gen 1:4). The land and the seas were tov (Gen 1:10), as were the seed-bearing plants and trees of every kind bearing fruit (Gen 1:12). The two great lights, separating light from darkness were tov (Gen 1:16-18). The great sea monsters, and all the living creatures of every kind that creep…...

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.