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 Beshallah 5786
January 26, 2026
Cantor Sandy Horowitz
Lighting the Way A D’var Torah for Parashat Beshallah By Cantor Sandy Horowitz (’14) In our busy, often digital-driven lives, we tend to forget to pause and take note of the wonders of creation around us and above us. Yet, opportunities abound: when we pray the words from the morning liturgy “yotzer or u’vorei hoshekh” (“Creator of light and Fashioner of darkness”), we might pause and look out the window; when we are out at night, we could look up and take note of the phase of the moon, reflecting on its connection to the Hebrew month. Taking the time to watch the sun set can be a wondrous and profound experience – the sky slowly changing color as the sun gradually sets behind the horizon and disappears, and the colors continue to change until it is finally fully dark. Often, we’re too involved in the business of our daily...
February 4, 2025
Cantor Robin Anne Joseph (’96)
In this week’s D’var Torah, Cantor Robin Anne Joseph wonders (with apologies for the gender specificity) if “to know, know, know Him is to love, love, love Him.”
Parashat Beshalah 5784
January 23, 2024
Rabbi Greg Schindler (’09)
As Parashat Beshalah begins, the Israelites are soon trapped between the Sea and the oncoming Egyptian army. What will they do? Incredibly, Gandalf raises his magic staff and the Sea splits!
Wait… I mean Moses.
Parashat Beshalah 5783
February 1, 2023
Click HERE for an audio recording of this D’var Torah Fear of Freedom? A D’var Torah for Parashat Beshalah By Rabbi Steven Altarescu (’14)The most powerful metaphor in Jewish thought is the exodus from Egypt. The story of the exodus has been read as a model of people seeking freedom in every historical period, as a symbol of rebirth and renewal, as freeing oneself from psychological and emotional conscription. The visual image of the sea parting, leaving dry land for the Israelites to march through but then closing up and drowning the Egyptians who pursued them, is stirring. The song the Israelites sung when they witnessed the power of God to open the sea for them but close it on the Egyptians is sung every morning as part of the shaharit service. In the Torah the song of the sea is followed by song, drumming and dance led by Miriam and other women. The air feels full of celebration...
Parashat Beshalah – 5782
January 14, 2022
Click HERE for an audio recording of this D’var Torah A D’var Torah for Parashat Beshalah By Rabbi Jill Hackell (’13) The Book of Exodus starts with the heroism of the midwives, who refuse to abide by Pharaoh’s terrible decree to kill the newborn boys born to the Israelites. This introduction provides an interesting lens through which to view our parashah of Beshalah. (Full disclaimer: my daughter-in-law is a midwife, and I am a loyal viewer of the PBS show “Call the Midwife.” And I am a mother). In our parashah, the Israelites who have grown up in Egypt have left to begin their journey, but their way is blocked by the sea. At God’s command, Moses lifts up his arm over the sea, and God drove back the sea. The text tells us, “The waters were split, and the Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their...
