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 Tetzaveh – 5785
March 3, 2025
Rabbi Enid C. Lader
Did we miss a spot? As Moses receives instructions for the making of items for the Mishkan, the text moves from describing the wardrobe of the priests to the ritual of installing the priests in their sacred roles. It is a ritual of purification that begins with sacrificial animals and bread, clothing the priests in their sacred vestments, and then their purification, including: “…Slaughter the ram and take some of its blood and put it on the ridge of Aaron’s right ear and on the ridges of his sons’ right ears, and on the thumbs of their right hand, and on the big toes of their right feet.” (Ex. 29:20) Ear… Thumb… Big toe? It is probably due to my current grandparenting responsibilities that, as I read this verse, I couldn’t help but hear, “Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb” – a book by Al Perkins, introducing toddlers and pre-school sweeties to their...
Parashat Tetzaveh -5784
February 19, 2024
Rabbi Marge Wise (AJR '21)
A first or even a second reading of the text of Parashat Tetzaveh doesn’t begin to reveal the nuances, the implications, the messages of what might otherwise sound like elaborate but formulaic instructions for how to light the lights and for how to dress the priests. Instead, we can learn so much from the choice of words and from the message behind the words which inform our lives to the present day. Reflecting on God’s instructions to us as we struggled to become a nation was a learning curve – then and now.
Parashat Tetzaveh 5783
February 27, 2023
Click HERE for an audio recording of this D’var Torah Remembering and Turning Things Upside-Down: Shabbat Zakhor and Purim A D’var Torah for Parashat Tetzaveh, Shabbat Zakhor, and Purim By Rabbi Rena Kieval (’06) “There is a certain people, scattered and separate from the peoples in all the provinces of your realm, and their rules are different from those of any other people… It is not in your Majesty’s interest to tolerate them. If it please your Majesty, let an edict be drawn for their destruction…” (Esther 3: 8,9) Every Purim, these words of Haman in Megillat Esther send chills down my spine. The words are ancient, yet they are all too familiar. We recognize the anti-Jewish tropes, the intolerance of anyone who is seen as ‘other’ or different, and the quintessential hate speech that is gaining more open expression in our time. Leading into Purim,...
Parashat Tetzaveh 5782
February 10, 2022
Click HERE for an audio recording of this D’var Torah A D’var Torah for Parashat Tetzaveh By Rabbi Marc Rudolph (’04) The final fifteen chapters of the Book of Exodus are devoted to the building of the Mishkan. This comprises over one quarter of the entire book. This year, since it is a leap year, we will spend a full five Shabbatot reading about this, in exquisite detail, in our synagogues. The midrash connects the completion of the Tabernacle with Creation itself. The story of Creation and the story of the construction of the Tabernacle are the only places in all of scripture where the verbs “to complete”, “to sanctify” and “to bless” are used together. (Midrash Tanhuma Pekudei 2:3) Yet it is striking how much more time the Torah spends on the building of the Tabernacle compared to the relatively succinct description of the creation of the universe in the Book of Genesis. Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z”l suggests...
Parashat Tetzaveh 5781
February 26, 2021
Click HERE for an audio recording of this D’var Torah A D’var Torah for Parashat Tetzaveh By Rabbi Cantor Sam Levine (’19) לְפָנִ֣ים ׀ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל כֹּֽה־אָמַ֤ר הָאִישׁ֙ בְּלֶכְתּוֹ֙ לִדְר֣וֹשׁ אֱלֹהִ֔ים לְכ֥וּ וְנֵלְכָ֖ה עַד־הָרֹאֶ֑ה כִּ֤י לַנָּבִיא֙ הַיּ֔וֹם יִקָּרֵ֥א לְפָנִ֖ים הָרֹאֶֽה׃ Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he would say, “Come, let us go to the seer,” for the prophet of today was formerly called a seer. (I Samuel 9:9) My eleven-year-old son showed me a YouTube video last week of a man wearing a mask (the COVID kind) imprinted with a realistic picture of a man’s face with a mask pulled down below his nose and mouth (see it here if you like). As he walks into a place of business, someone asks him to please put his mask on properly. He pulls his mask down and the joke is exposed. The meta-mask prank on...
