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 Emor – 5786
April 27, 2026
Rabbi Wendy Love Anderson
The Meaning of a Mitzvah A D’var Torah for Parashat Emor By Rabbi Wendy Love Anderson What’s the point of a mitzvah? For most people, a mitzvah is fundamentally something you do, whether you are visiting the sick or donating tzedakah, praying the Shema or eating matzah on Pesah. When you hear about a twelve-year-old’s “mitzvah project” or celebrate “Mitzvah Day” at a local synagogue or refer to Chabad’s “mitzvah tanks,” the presumption is that a mitzvah is a clearly defined action, which can be encouraged through donation drives, activity fairs, or vehicles equipped with ritual accessories. You can decide to “do” a mitzvah; you can finish it; you can make lists of mitzvot and check them off. In fact, a number of distinctively Jewish practices, such as wearing a tallit or conducting a Passover Seder, offer us opportunities to perform a mitzvah (in this case, putting fringes on our...
Parashat Emor – 5785
May 14, 2025
Rabbi Gerry L. Ginsburg (AJR '19)
A D’var Torah for Parashat Emor By Rabbi Gerry L. Ginsburg There is a paradox in the commandment to light the Menorah in the mishkan, the portable sanctuary in the wilderness which appears in Parashat Emor. The flames of the Menorah were not there to give off light. The mishkan was fully constructed and operational, the first korbanot, sacrifices, were already completed favorably, when the commandment comes to tell the Levites, specifically Aaron, to light the Menorah daily. The light of the Menorah will emanate from pure, clear olive oil, unlike that used for any other function. God talked to Moses about lighting the Menorah and specifically directed Aaron to supervise. צַ֞ו אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל וְיִקְח֨וּ אֵלֶ֜יךָ שֶׁ֣מֶן זַ֥יִת זָ֛ךְ כָּתִ֖ית לַמָּא֑וֹר לְהַעֲלֹ֥ת נֵ֖ר תָּמִֽיד׃ Command the Israelite people to bring you clear oil of beaten olives for lighting, for kindling lamps regularly. (Lev. 24:2) But this oil was not for any candelabrum, it was specifically for the Menorah crafted out of one...
Parashat Emor 5784
May 14, 2024
Hazzan Rabbi Luis Cattan ('20)
Albert Einstein once said, “Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.” Reflecting on this wisdom, I write this D’var Torah on Wednesday, May 8, 2024 – the Sixteenth Day of the Omer: Day 215 of captivity, as we continue to count both the days of the Omer and the endless days of our brothers and sisters’ cruel captivity at the hands of terrorists.
Parashat Emor 5783
May 2, 2023
Rabbi Katy Allen ('05)
Lo tehal’lelu You shall not profane pollute desecrate. Do not. You and I and each of us, holy leaders great and small, let us think twice about what we do, let us remember and pay attention, that we do not profane pollute desecrate… …ourselves or others (Lev.21:9) — precious are you are they am I, beloved by one or more, sacred; …our children, (Lev. 21:15) mine yours theirs ours, the future they are; we will not be here one day but they will, they will only if we remember and if we restrain and if we transform our baser instincts; …the Name; (Lev. 21:6) you are not the center of the Universe nor am I nor he nor she nor they nor them — much is beyond us greater more important, critical on every level to functionality to wellbeing; …the sanctuary of the Oneness (Lev. 21:12) the Breathe the All-Encompassing...
Parashat Emor 5782
May 13, 2022
Click HERE for an audio recording of this D’var Torah A D’var Torah for Parashat Emor By Rabbi Cantor Sam Levine (’19) You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy (Lev. 19:2) This is the thesis statement of what Bible scholars call “the Holiness Code” (Lev. 17-26). It is also, arguably, the thesis statement of the Book of Leviticus, and, one might further argue, of the entire Torah. Of course the statement begs the question, what does it mean to be holy? We may find a clue in a pair of verses from this week’s sedra. An ox or a sheep or a goat, when it is born, shall remain seven days under its mother, and from the eighth day and forward it will be accepted as a near-offering, as a fire-offering to YHWH. And an ox or a sheep—it and its young you are not to slaughter on...
