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 Shoftim 5786
August 10, 2026
Dorit Edut
Unsolved Murders A D’var Torah for Parashat Shoftim By Rabbi Dorit Edut (AJR ’06) Many of us have seen the TV show “Unsolved Mysteries” and the Netflix series “FBI:Most Wanted” before they went off the air. We were probably attracted to the solving of these crimes because of our curiosity, but I also hope we may have been motivated by the desire to see justice done – something which our Torah tradition has ingrained in us for centuries. In my own community we have an organization called CrimeStoppers of Southeast Michigan which works closely with law enforcement and encourages people to anonymously report tips that might solve a murder crime with the promise of a nice financial reward. Yet with daily reports of new murders, resolved or not, we as a society are left with much unease. Our Torah portion this week, Shoftim, with its emphasis on “pursuing justice” offers...
Parashat Shoftim – 5785
August 26, 2025
Rabbi Enid C. Lader ('10)
One to Keep Before You… And One to Carry with You A D’var Torah for Parashat Shoftim By Rabbi Enid C. Lader As Moses continues his instructions to all the people of Israel as they are preparing to enter the Promised Land, he says: “You shall be free to set a king over yourself, one chosen by the Eternal your God… He shall not keep many horses… He shall not have many wives, lest his heart go astray; nor shall he amass silver and gold to excess. When he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he is to write himself a Mishneh Torah – a copy of this Instruction – in a scroll, before the presence of Levitical priests. Let it remain with him and let him read in it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to revere the Eternal his God, to observe...
Parashat Shoftim 5784
September 4, 2024
Rabbi Rob Scheinberg
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, according...
Parashat Shoftim 5783
August 14, 2023
Rabbi Rob Scheinberg
When I officiate at a wedding, I typically encourage the parents to bestow blessings upon their children. In addition to the Priestly Blessing, often the parents read a blessing in English that I provide to them, including the lines: “When you speak with your beloved, may you always know the joy of companionship. When you see each other, may your eyes be filled with wonder at the miracle of your love. When you disagree, may you always think of compromise.” I began to be curious about the etymology of the word “compromise,” noting that it has the word “promise” in it, and I wondered if it originally meant something like “promise together.” I looked it up and discovered that the original meaning of the word “compromise” is a promise that is made by two disputants, at the same time, that they will abide by the decision of someone else who is acting as the arbiter...
Parashat Shofetim 5782
September 1, 2022
Click HERE for an audio recording of this D’var Torah Idols of Our Own Making A D’var Torah for Parashat Shofetim By Rabbi Matthew Goldstone Our parasha this week begins with a call to justice – we must establish reliable judges who will judge with integrity and we ourselves must actively pursue justice. Immediately following this charge, the portion switches to a prohibition against setting up idolatrous objects of wood or stone. The next chapter (Deut. 17) continues to interweave discussions of avoiding idolatry through the worship of celestial objects with legal justice – that capital punishment shall only be enacted on the basis of the testimony of multiple witness and that difficult cases should be brought to the appointed judges of the day. The extended connection between avoiding idolatry and the pursuit of justice reinforces their antipodal orientations. Idolatry leads us away from truth and justice. But the nature and manifestations of idolatry...
