וְיֵעָשׂוּ כֻלָּם אֲגֻדָּה אֶחָת לַעֲשׂוֹת רְצוֹנְךָ בְּלֵבָב שָׁלֵם

All shall unite to do God's will with an open heart.

וְיֵעָשׂוּ כֻלָּם אֲגֻדָּה אֶחָת לַעֲשׂוֹת רְצוֹנְךָ בְּלֵבָב שָׁלֵם

All shall unite to do God's will with an open heart.

Parashat Ha’azinu – 5786

Parashat Ha’azinu – 5786

“From the hands of his enemies and from the hands of Saul”

A D’var Torah for Parashat Ha’azinu

By Rabbi Rob Scheinberg

The traditional cycle of Haftarot, prophetic readings for each Shabbat and holiday of the year, is one of the more confusing parts of synagogue ritual, between the numerous differences in practice between Ashkenazic and Sefardic communities, [1] the even greater number of divergences in practice when one considers the Italian and Mizrahi rites, and the quirks of the holiday cycle that are hard for anyone to keep track of without a detailed perpetual calendar (or a website like hebcal.com).

This is one of the relatively few years when traditional Jewish communities read the Haftarah for the Torah portion of Ha’azinu, a poem from the end of the 2nd Book of Samuel (2 Samuel 22). Most frequently, the Torah portion of Ha’azinu is read between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, prompting the Read More >

By Marisa Amith|2025-09-29T10:51:29-04:00September 29, 2025|

Parashat Vayeilekh – 5785

A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayeilekh

by Rabbi Marge Wise (AJR ’21)

Although the shortest parashah in the Torah with 30 verses, parashat Vayeilekh teaches us so much about life, the trajectory of life’s journey, ways to view life’s accomplishments, the high points and the disappointments. Trying to find a theme for my D’var Torah has led me to be introspective. Being at home for a few days with Covid – which I had avoided until now and had hoped to continue avoiding! – helped fuel that introspection!

I learned a lot in the process of doing research for this D’var Torah. For one, I learned a new word: generativity. But before I get there, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, z”l, describes Moses in a way which makes him seem very – well, “human”. He describes Moses as someone who has achieved it all – and now what? He tells the children of Israel that he can no Read More >

By Marisa Amith|2025-09-22T12:13:14-04:00September 22, 2025|

Parashat Nitzavim – 5785

A D’var Torah for Parashat Nitzavim

By Rabbi Susan Elkodsi (AJR ’15)

Parashat Nitzavim is usually read a week or two before Rosh Hashanah, and begins with Moses reminding us that following Torah, God’s commandments, isn’t so difficult, or at least it shouldn’t be.

The parashah begins with Moses acknowledging the entire community standing before him; the elders, the tribal leaders, the children, men and women, resident aliens, everyone from the woodchopper to the water drawers. (Dev. 29:9-10)

I’ve always wondered why the professions of wood chopping and water drawing would not only be singled out, but presented in a way that suggests that they’re two ends of spectrum, or that perhaps these are unskilled laborers who might not be as learned as the elders of the community. And I also wonder, when we say “from alef to tav,” for example, there are usually steps in between. Here, we’re not told about Read More >

By Marisa Amith|2025-09-16T10:41:43-04:00September 16, 2025|

Parashat Ki Tavo -5785

Teach Your Children Well

A D’var Torah for Parashat Ki Tavo

By Rabbi Greg Schindler

From the moment she stepped into the home in Tuscumbia, Alabama on March 3, 1887, 21-year old Anne Sullivan faced a daunting challenge. Not only was her new 6-year old pupil blind (like Anne), but she was also deaf, mute, and very unruly.

Anne immediately began signing words into the child’s hand. It took a month of constant repetition, but eventually the girl began to comprehend that the words drawn on her hand represented things in the world. Anne understood that teaching this child would best be achieved by focusing on touch, smell, and taste. And so, many of their lessons took place outdoors where they could touch the animals, smell the flowers, and taste the fruits.

One concept, however, proved extremely challenging — the difference between the “mug” and the “milk” that it held. While she was washing one morning, the Read More >

By Marisa Amith|2025-09-08T12:39:10-04:00September 8, 2025|

Parashat Ki Teitzei – 5785

A D’var Torah for Parashat Ki Teitzei

By Hazzan Rabbi Luis Cattan

As we enter the month of Elul, preparing for Rosh Hashanah, many of us begin to plan who will be seated at our festive tables — and realize also, who will not. For some, this season stirs joy. For others, it stirs old and new grief.

Rabbi Naomi Levy, a contemporary liturgist, offers a powerful “Prayer When a Parent Dies” in her book Talking to God:

“I miss you. You gave me my life. You were my protector, my teacher, my moral compass, my comfort. I feel so alone without you. No one worries about me the way you did. No one loves me the way you did… Please forgive me for the times I caused you pain, and for the times I took you for granted… I will always treasure the lessons you taught me. I will carry them with me all Read More >

By Marisa Amith|2025-09-02T11:33:33-04:00September 2, 2025|

Parashat Shoftim – 5785

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 [we] 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 faithfully every word of this Teaching Read More >

By Marisa Amith|2025-08-26T13:32:16-04:00August 26, 2025|

Parashat Re’eh – 5785

The Torah of Vacation

A D’var Torah for Parashat Re’eh

By Rabbi Rob Scheinberg, PhD

Here’s a good question to ask in August: What does the Torah teach us about how to go on vacation?

Our initial answer might be: not so much. You would have a hard time coming up with references to vacation in the Torah. Perhaps one could refer to Shabbat as a weekly vacation, but that uses the word “vacation” very differently from how we tend to use it.

There is a lot of discussion of travel in the Torah: Abraham moves to the land of Israel; the people of Israel go down to Egypt, and then take a long and scenic route for forty years back to the land of Israel. But most of this travel is desperate wandering and displacement, rather Read More >

By Marisa Amith|2025-08-19T13:27:37-04:00August 19, 2025|

Parashat Eikev – 5785

The Heart of the Matter¹

A D’var Torah for Parashat Eikev

by Rabbi Greg Schindler (2009)

In this week’s D’var Torah, Rabbi Greg Schindler digs deep to see if there is a central lesson hidden in our Parashah.

If you are a frequent reader of Divrei Torah, then you are probably familiar with some of the great Torah commentators: Rashi, Ramban, Ibn Ezra and many others have helped generations to better understand the weekly parashah.

But what if I told you that there was a Torah commentator even more ancient than these great scholars, older even than the Talmud? And more “plugged in” than any of them. Well, there is such a commentator, and it has been hiding in plain sight for millennia.

That commentator is the Torah itself².

No, this does not Read More >

By Marisa Amith|2025-08-11T12:20:45-04:00August 11, 2025|

Parashat Vaethanan – 5785

A D’var Torah for Parashat Vaethanan

by Rabbi Marge Wise (AJR ‘21)

Shalom Hevre,

The haftarah following the Torah reading of Parashat Vaethanan opens with the words Nahamu nahamu ami, the quintessential recipe for comfort for b’nei yisrael following the saddest day of the year for our people, Tisha B’Av. I would like to discuss three themes which I believe are woven into the fabric of parashat Vaethanan: Our love for God, gratitude and the concept of comfort, itself.

Tisha B’Av, for me, always brings to mind a significant memory. Curiously, this year for the first time I was able to reach some closure regarding that memory…. It was early in the afternoon of Tisha B’Av when, decades ago, my husband and I and our two children – both under two years old at the time! – headed out on the next leg of the cross-country trip which we took that summer.

Long story very short, we were Read More >

By Marisa Amith|2025-08-05T15:30:13-04:00August 5, 2025|

Parashat Devarim – 5785

Words of Questioning and Lamenting

A D’var Torah for Parashat Devarim

By Rabbi Susan Elkodsi (AJR ’15)

HaZaL, our Sages of Blessed Memory, knew exactly what they were doing when they manipulated the weekly Torah reading schedule to make sure that Parashat Devarim would be read on the Shabbat immediately preceding Tisha B’Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar.

Tisha B’Av is a day of collective national mourning for a time, place, and way of life that no longer exist. Devarim, Moses’ final address to the Israelites during the last month of his life is similar; by looking back on what has transpired over 40 years, he is lamenting missed opportunities on an often frustrating journey and mourning the loss of a future he won’t be physically part of.

The connection between this reading and Eikha, the Book of Lamentations, is more than the fact that the two share the word, eikha, translated simply as “how?” or “Alas!”.

In Devarim 1:12

Read More >

By Marisa Amith|2025-07-30T12:17:09-04:00July 30, 2025|

Parshiyot Mattot-Masei – 5785

Reuben, Gad, and the Tension Between Place and Purpose

A D’var Torah for Parshiyot Mattot-Masei

By Hazzan Rabbi Luis Cattan (AJR ’20)

When Natan Sharansky was Chairman of the Jewish Agency, I had the privilege of sitting with him and a small group of global Jewish leaders to discuss Jewish identity. In that conversation, he shared a metaphor that has stayed with me ever since.

He spoke of the pain of living under Soviet rule—of the repression, the fear, and the impossibility of making aliyah. But then he added, “More than the Iron Curtain once prevented Soviet Jews from making aliyah, today it is the Golden Curtain that prevents American Jews.”

In other words, it’s not external oppression that distances many Jews from Israel—it’s comfort. Affluence, freedom, and assimilation create a different kind of barrier. A quieter one. But perhaps no less potent.

Something similar is reflected in this week’s parashah. As the Israelites stand on the threshold of entering the Land Read More >

By Marisa Amith|2025-07-23T07:07:29-04:00July 23, 2025|

D’var Torah – Pinhas 5785

As the Children of Israel prepare to come to the final stages of their journey to the Promised Land, God instructs Moses to “Take a census of the whole Israelite community from the age of twenty years up, by their ancestral houses, all Israelites able to bear arms.” [Numbers 26:2]

By Linda Ripps|2025-07-14T13:51:40-04:00July 14, 2025|

Parashat Balak – 5785

“Listening to the Whole Story”

A D’var Torah for Parashat Balak

By Rabbi Rob Scheinberg

“A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.”

When Simon and Garfunkel sang these words more than 50 years ago, it was not in a political context, but this concept seems so relevant to contemporary politics. Whether with regard to American issues, Israeli issues, internal Jewish communal issues, or any other topic, many of us are so wedded to our preexisting assumptions that we pay deep attention to anything that supports what we already believe, and dismiss even reputable information if it challenges what we already believe. I often see this tendency in myself; I try to resist it, and I sometimes succeed.

Balak, the king of the Moabites and the namesake of this week’s Torah portion, may be the Torah’s most outstanding exemplar of this tendency towards selective attention and confirmation bias.

The Torah portion of Balak is the only narrative Read More >

By Marisa Amith|2025-07-08T10:06:13-04:00July 8, 2025|

Parashat Hukkat – 5785

A D’var Torah for Parashat Hukkat

By Rabbi Marge Wise (AJR ‘21)

As someone who has struggled with understanding the concept of s’khar v’onesh, reward and punishment in Judaism, I find in parashat Hukkat perhaps a partial answer. Volumes have been written about what Moshe may have done wrong in this parashah, why God reacted as He did, whether it was Divine punishment and if it was, what can we learn from it.

Although I’m tempted to discuss some other themes in this parashah – the parah ha-adumah, the red heifer, the effect on Moses of Miriam and Aaron’s death, the plague which killed 15,000 individuals and the copper serpent cure, I’m determined to remain faithful to the theme of Moses’ striking the rock – twice – and what follows, in the hope of gaining additional insights into the subject of reward and punishment.

I searched through many commentaries because I was unhappy with the focus on punishment for Moses’ act of Read More >

By Marisa Amith|2025-06-30T13:49:38-04:00June 30, 2025|

Parashat Korah – 5785

Rosencrantz, Guildenstern and The 250 Men

A D’var Torah for Parashat Korah

By Rabbi Greg Schindler (AJR ’09)

Tom Stoppard’s 1966 play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, brings to the forefront two minor players from Hamlet – the couriers, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. While they prepare for, and perform, their small parts in the play, unknown scenes occur “offstage” (in Shakespeare’s Hamlet) that have major impacts on their lives.

This week’s Torah portion, Parashat Korah , is named for the insurrection led by Korah and his accomplices, Dathan and Aviram, against Moses. And – like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern – there are another 250 characters who play minor roles and whose lives are affected by “offstage” events beyond their knowing.

וַיִּקַּ֣ח קֹ֔רַח בֶּן־יִצְהָ֥ר בֶּן־קְהָ֖ת בֶּן־לֵוִ֑י וְדָתָ֨ן וַאֲבִירָ֜ם בְּנֵ֧י אֱלִיאָ֛ב וְא֥וֹן בֶּן־פֶּ֖לֶת בְּנֵ֥י רְאוּבֵֽן׃

וַיָּקֻ֙מוּ֙ לִפְנֵ֣י מֹשֶׁ֔ה וַאֲנָשִׁ֥ים מִבְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל חֲמִשִּׁ֣ים וּמָאתָ֑יִם נְשִׂיאֵ֥י עֵדָ֛ה קְרִאֵ֥י מוֹעֵ֖ד אַנְשֵׁי־שֵֽׁם׃

Took Korah, son of Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi, along with Read More >

By Marisa Amith|2025-06-24T14:21:18-04:00June 24, 2025|

Parashat Shelah – 5785

A D’var Torah for Parashat Shelah

By Hazzan Rabbi Luis Cattan

Nahbi and Geuel had grown up in the brickyards of Egypt, where children learned to whisper dreams only in the dark. They shared the same clay dust, the same lash, the same bitter herbs—but never friendship. Nahbi, son of Vophsi of the tribe of Naphtali, was careful and calculating, known for his smooth tongue and cautious mind. Geuel, son of Makhi from the tribe of Gad, was shrewd and ambitious, always watching from the shadows. They admired each other’s strengths in the way adversaries do—always measuring, never trusting.

Now, with the miraculous Exodus behind them and the covenant of Sinai fresh in their memories, they were suddenly leaders—appointed chieftains of their respective tribes. And rivals once more.

As the twelve chieftains stood before Moses, the air was thick with anticipation and uncertainty. His instructions were precise, devoid of sentiment:

“When Moses Read More >

By Marisa Amith|2025-06-16T11:11:29-04:00June 16, 2025|

Parashat Beha’alotekha – 5785

A D’var Torah for Parashat Beha’alotekha

By Rabbi Inna Serebro-Litvak (AJR ’16)

When I was six years old, my father took me on a camping trip with his coworkers and their children. (In Russia this was considered to be a team building activity).

My favorite memories of that time include sitting around the campfire, listening to the singing (someone would always bring a guitar), baking potatoes in the coals and watching the flames shooting up in the dark. I was fascinated by the beauty and the variety of shades of orange, the sound of the burning wood, the smell, and the smoke that rose up to the heavens. I thought that the campfire was a beautiful thing!

A few years later I learned the hard way that a beautiful fire can also be very dangerous and bring horrific destruction.

Here is how I learned the lesson about the power of fire:

We used to live on the sixth Read More >

By Marisa Amith|2025-06-11T10:00:37-04:00June 9, 2025|

Parashat Naso – 5785

Down and Dirty

A D’var Torah for Parashat Naso

By Cantor Robin Anne Joseph (AJR ’96)

A priest’s work is never done.

After a long day directing the services of the Gershonites, recording the enrollment of the Kohathites, the Gershonites, the Merarites, and retaining sacred donations…must the priests also be marriage counselors?

In Paashat Naso, any man who thinks his wife has “gone astray,” whether she has actually had sexual relations with another man or not, should be brought by the jealous husband to the priest. (Num. 5:12-15)

Oh, really? Whatever happened to the death penalty? Not that I’m in favor of that, but isn’t the death penalty the prescription for adultery?

Remember back in Leviticus… “If a man commits adultery with a married woman—committing adultery with another man’s wife—the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death.” Read More >

By Marisa Amith|2025-06-04T12:39:13-04:00June 4, 2025|

Parashat Bemidbar – 5785

A D’var Torah for Parashat Bemidbar

By Rabbi Susan Elkodsi (AJR ’15)

A few years ago, for Mother’s Day, my kids gave me a DNA-testing kit from Ancestry.com. Not surprisingly, the results came back as 99% Ashkenazi Jewish with 1% various other ethnicities, depending on some algorithm or something.

It was fascinating to start receiving DNA matches, including my daughter (whew!), connecting with some long-lost relatives, and learning about some distant ones whom I never knew existed. I get as far back as my great-grandparents, and then the history appears to end. My husband, whose father was part of the Egyptian Karaite community, has information going back 12 or 13 generations because excellent records have been kept and kept up.

Now imagine being an Israelite born into Egyptian slavery!

The book of Bemidbar/Numbers/In the Wilderness opens by telling us that the Israelites are in their second year following the Exodus from Egypt (1:1). While we don’t yet Read More >

By Marisa Amith|2025-05-28T10:25:23-04:00May 28, 2025|

Parshiyot Behar-Behukotai 5785

A Bible verse for the shelter’s door

A D’var Torah for Parshiyot Behar-Behukotai

By Rabbi Robert Scheinberg

Rookie rabbi mistakes, chapter 1: One week after my arrival to my first full-time congregation that I served as a rabbi, at age 27, I was invited to a meeting of our local clergy coalition, and I met the director of the local homeless shelter. My synagogue had been one of the organizations that founded the shelter several years before.

The shelter’s director, a wise, courageous, and gregarious nun named Sister Norberta who had led the effort to found the shelter despite local government opposition, warmly welcomed me and quickly told me that she had a special job for me. They were doing a renovation of the shelter and wanted to commission some artwork for the shelter door, including Biblical verses that would be sources of inspiration for those who would be walking through the door of the shelter. They wanted to use Read More >

By Marisa Amith|2025-05-19T12:57:45-04:00May 19, 2025|

Parashat Emor – 5785

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 piece of Read More >

By Marisa Amith|2025-05-14T15:39:06-04:00May 14, 2025|

Parshiyot Aharei Mot – Kedoshim – 5785

May the Force Be with You

A D’var Torah for Parshiyot Aharei Mot – Kedoshim

By Rabbi Enid C. Lader (AJR ’10)

“The Eternal One spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the whole Israelite community and say to them – You shall be holy, for I, the Eternal your God, am holy.” (Lev. 19:1-2)

How would you define “holy”?

What does it mean to “BE holy”?

These are questions I asked Gavriel as we prepared for his becoming a bar mitzvah last year. Upon hearing my questions, he looked at me with a blank expression, but I could tell that he was thinking… and thinking… and hesitantly answered, “Religious?”

Years ago, I had learned about and then taught other Jewish educators and teachers about Interactive Family Homework; this seemed like the perfect opportunity for Gavriel to include his grandparents in an important part of his bar mitzvah preparations. I asked Read More >

By Marisa Amith|2025-05-05T13:24:24-04:00May 5, 2025|

Parshiyot Tazria-Mezorah – 5785

See Me

A D’var Torah for Parshiyot Tazria-Mezorah

By Rabbi Greg Schindler (AJR ’09)

“See Me

Feel Me

Touch Me

Heal Me”

“See Me, Feel Me” (The Who)

There was once a fellow who was so forgetful that, when he got up in the morning, he could not remember where he had put his clothes. One evening he had a great idea: He took a pencil and paper and wrote down exactly where he placed each item of clothing. He placed the note on his nightstand and fell asleep.

The next morning, he saw the note and read off each item in turn. “Pants – on chair”. And there they were. “Shirt – on bed post.” There was his shirt. “Hat – on hook behind door.” And there it was.

Suddenly, a worried expression crossed his face.

“Yes,” he said, “Here are my pants and my shirt and my hat … but where am I?”

He looked and looked, but could not find himself anywhere.

Woe to the young person called upon to Read More >

By Marisa Amith|2025-04-29T13:29:07-04:00April 29, 2025|

The Many “Faces” of Silence

Parashat Shemini doesn’t lack for themes but the one which stood out for me as I began to prepare this D’var Torah is one that “speaks” to me every year when we read this parashah – namely, the theme of silence. Although Aaron’s silence is of course in an almost inconceivably tragic context all its own, I’ve been recalling and searching for other instances of silence in the Bible and in contemporary literature as well as in the area of mourning practices.

An example in the latter category is Chaim Potok’s well-known book, The Chosen, which powerfully and poignantly explores the theme of silence between fathers and sons. Rabbi Harold Kushner also explores the concept of silence in his widely-read book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People. In it, he deals with the role of silence in understanding suffering and in searching for meaning in life. In response to grief and misery, Kushner believed that silence can find Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2025-04-21T17:41:34-04:00April 21, 2025|

Pesah 5785

Normally I look forward to my trips to Israel with much anticipation and excitement. Even following the horrific attack of October 7, and with an ongoing war, I was still looking forward to being with my people.

By Linda Ripps|2025-04-15T16:23:15-04:00April 15, 2025|

Parashat Tzav -5785

A D’var Torah for Parashat Tzav

By Rabbi Susan Elkodsi (AJR ’15)

One of the beautiful and amazing things about Torah study is that every time I encounter a parashah, I see something I hadn’t noticed before. This year is no different. As I began reading Parashat Tzav, where Moses is told to command–Tzav–Aaron to keep a perpetual fire–an aish tamid–burning on the altar all night until morning, I noticed that this requirement is mentioned three times in the first six verses.

I also noticed that not only does the Torah command us to eat matza brie, the “recipe” is included:

עַֽל־ מַחֲבַ֗ת בַּשֶּׁ֛מֶן תֵּעָשֶׂ֖ה מֻרְבֶּ֣כֶת תְּבִיאֶ֑נָּה תֻּפִינֵי֙ מִנְחַ֣ת פִּתִּ֔ים תַּקְרִ֥יב רֵֽיחַ־נִיחֹ֖חַ לה’׃

“On a griddle, with oil, it is to be made, well-stirred are you to bring it, as baked crumbled-bits of grain you are to bring-it-near, a soothing savor for YHWH.” (Lev. 6:14, Fox Translation).

Somewhere along the line I got the idea that verse Read More >

By Marisa Amith|2025-04-07T13:43:07-04:00April 7, 2025|

Parashat Vayikra – 5785

Receiving the Call

A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayikra

By Rabbi Rena Kieval (AJR ’06)

It begins with a call. We are at the center of the Torah, the Book of Leviticus, and Moshe has just overseen the elaborate construction of the mishkan. Now that the sanctuary is complete, God will relay to Moshe and to the kohanim, in painstaking detail, the rituals and rules to be practiced in that sacred space. But first, there is a call to Moshe, a call which gives this book of the Torah and this parashah their name, Vayikra. Why the call? What does it mean to us to be called? Many of us have felt called to serve, to carry out a specific role, or called more generally to be our best selves. Who, or what, calls us, and how do we receive that call? Two curious features in the opening verse of our parashah help us explore these questions.

The first verse of our parashah contains two verbs of speech – vayikra and vayedaber – he Read More >

By Marisa Amith|2025-03-31T12:57:01-04:00March 31, 2025|

Parashat Pekudei – 5785

Both Sides Now

A D’var Torah for Parashat Pekudei

By Cantor Robin Anne Joseph

Let’s look at clouds. From all sides now. Shall we?

Clouds are—what? The presence of God? A cover for God? A signal from God? In Parashat Pekudei, they are D) All of the above. And then some.

One cloud in particular makes a brief, but spectacular, cameo appearance as the curtain comes down on the second “act” (Book) of the Five Books of Moses. Not just any cloud, not just a cloud, but The Cloud (הֶעָנָ֖ן). As much a supporting actor in the Torah as anyone (or anything) else, I’m continually surprised not to see the word “cloud” capitalized in the English translation whenever the article “the” precedes it.

This is not the first time that The Cloud has made an appearance in the Torah.

As early as in the Book of Genesis, when God makes a covenant, a Brit, with Noah to never again destroy the earth by flood, God sets God’s “bow in the cloud.” Read More >

By Marisa Amith|2025-03-24T11:44:17-04:00March 24, 2025|

Parashat Vayakhel – 5785

There are individuals for whom learned information remains merely theoretical, and there are others who internalize their learning until it becomes part of their very being. We know the second ones in biblical language as "wise-hearted" (חכמי לב). A "wise-hearted" individual understands and internalizes their learning until it permeates their thoughts and actions.

By Linda Ripps|2025-03-18T14:13:35-04:00March 18, 2025|

Parashat Ki Tissa – 5785

Yishar Koah!

A D’var Torah for Parashat Ki Tissa

By Rabbi Rob Scheinberg

Among the various words and phrases you’re likely to hear in a synagogue is the phrase “Yishar koah,” sometimes pronounced as “Yashar koah” or “Yeshar koah” or even abbreviated to “Sh’koyah!” Since Talmudic times, this phrase has been a way to express praise for an achievement, even an extremely minor achievement. “Yishar” comes from the root “y.sh.r.”, meaning “upright” or “aligned,” and “koah” means “strength” or “force.” The phrase itself can be translated in a few different ways; it could be a prayer or good wish for the future, “may your strength be upright,” or it could be a complimentary statement of fact, “your strength is upright” or “your force is aligned.”

Functionally, “Yishar koah” means “you did a good job,” especially in performing a synagogue ritual-related task — whether or not it is one of the synagogue tasks that requires any skill Read More >

By Marisa Amith|2025-03-12T09:52:45-04:00March 10, 2025|

Parashat Tetzaveh – 5785

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 Read More >

By Marisa Amith|2025-03-03T10:50:00-05:00March 3, 2025|

Parashat Terumah – 5785

A D’var Torah for Parashat Terumah

When someone talks about a sanctuary, what comes to mind? If one uses that term for a house of worship, then images of clergy might enter one’s mind, with an Aron Kodesh, an ark containing the Torah scrolls, and the bimah with stands for the clergy to lead a prayer service. Maybe some stained glass. Definitely a window or two.

The sanctuary can be large and formal –think of Temple Emmanuel in New York City. Or it can be small, informal and intimate such as a neighborhood shtiebel, and anywhere in between. They are places for Jewish prayer, where individuals try to get closer to God, and to each other, in prayer and song.

The term sanctuary first came into our lexicon with this week’s Torah portion, Terumah. But that sanctuary was not of an arbitrary size with rooms and fixtures which could vary. No, the first sanctuary, the Mishkan, a portable sanctuary for offerings as the Children of Israel went from Read More >

By Marisa Amith|2025-02-25T09:59:12-05:00February 25, 2025|

Parashat Mishpatim – 5785

Promises, Promises

A D’var Torah for Parashat Mishpatim

By Rabbi Greg Schindler (AJR ’09)

While last week’s Torah portion is so famous that they made a movie about it (something with Charlton Heston), this week’s parsha – Mishpatim or “Laws” – has a very different flavor. This week, we get – count ‘em – 53 different laws on a vast array of topics. They include the treatment of servants, betrothal of handmaidens, insults, injuries, theft, loans, false witnesses, bribery, return of lost animals, land usage, festivals and many more.

Then, after 80-something verses of laws, we get the following line

(Exod 23:18-20 ): https://www.sefaria.org/Exodus.23.18-20?lang=bi&aliyot=0–

“I am going to send an angel before you to protect you on the way, and to bring you to the place that I have designated.”

Wait…what?!

You’re sending an angel before us? Where did that come from? It’s like reading the U.S. Federal Tax Code and coming across a line from Harry Potter.

Now that it has our attention, the Read More >

By Marisa Amith|2025-02-20T14:34:44-05:00February 18, 2025|

Parashat Yitro – 5785

In this week's Torah portion, Rabbi Susan Elkodsi sees Yitro's advice to Moses as a reminder that strong and effective leaders also need to care for their own wellbeing.

By Marisa Amith|2025-02-10T13:05:49-05:00February 10, 2025|

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.”

By Marisa Amith|2025-02-04T10:58:38-05:00February 4, 2025|

Parashat Bo – 5785

As I watched live the final episode of “Kochav haba LeEurovision” and witnessed the elegant sensitivity with which they crafted this joyous occasion with the reiterated references to the last almost sixteen months that the hostages have been in captivity, I couldn’t avoid thinking of Naomi Shemer’s song “BeDamaikh Hayi”

By Marisa Amith|2025-01-30T09:33:22-05:00January 30, 2025|

Parashat Vaera – 5785

Let me ask you this: “As a child, what did you most associate with Christmas? What about Hanukkah? Easter? Passover?” Think about the images you associated with these holidays. Then think about what an evergreen tree has to do with the birth of Jesus; or why eight gifts represent Hanukkah. And how about connecting jelly donuts with the victory of Maccabees over Assyrian King Antiochus and the Hellenistic influence over the Israelites. Better yet, what does a bunny and chocolate eggs have to do with the crucifixion of Jesus? And even more interesting, how does the happy tune of the “Frog” song reflect on the horrifying experience of the one of 10 plagues – which caused so much suffering among Egyptians?

By Marisa Amith|2025-01-20T16:55:22-05:00January 20, 2025|

Parashat Shemot 5785

Parashat Shemot, is the first parashah in the book of Exodus, whose name is also Shemot, which literally means names. In this parashah we read of the birth of Moses. Not taking anything away from Moses – or from his father, whom we’ll get to in a moment – I would like us to keep in mind that Moses’ birth, and his very survival, were made possible by a few brave and fearless women!!

By Linda Ripps|2025-01-17T10:08:35-05:00January 17, 2025|

Parashat Vayehi 5785

With this portion, Jacob comes to end of his life’s journey, and makes preparations for his family. He blesses and adopts Joseph’s sons, Ephriam and Menasseh. He calls his sons together and offers words of blessing – and some less than blessing. He makes Joseph promise that after his death, Joseph will bury him in the family cave at Makhpelah in Canaan. It seems straightforward.

The rabbis read more into Jacob’s calling his sons together, based on Genesis 49:2:

הִקָּבְצ֥וּ וְשִׁמְע֖וּ בְּנֵ֣י יַעֲקֹ֑ב וְשִׁמְע֖וּ אֶל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֥ל אֲבִיכֶֽם׃

Assemble and hear, O sons of Jacob;
Hearken to Israel, your father…

You might notice, that the word “V’Shimu” is repeated twice. And you might also realize that this word – whose root letters are Shin-Mem-Ayin – is closely connected to the word “Shema – Listen… or Hear.” A rabbinic midrash is offered suggesting Jacob’s concern that his sons continue to hold fast to their connection to Adonai, Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2025-01-06T12:30:49-05:00January 6, 2025|

Parashat Vayigash 5785

When I was a student at AJR, I was fortunate to take an elective entitled Bibliodrama with Dr. Peter Pitzele. We were told that the class would expand how we would view Torah, by making a parashah come alive by making it into a drama.

By Linda Ripps|2024-12-31T11:15:47-05:00December 31, 2024|

Parashat Mikeitz 5785

“The waiting is the hardest part Every day you see one more card You take it on faith, you take it to the heart The waiting is the hardest part.” - “The Waiting”, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

By Linda Ripps|2024-12-23T12:41:02-05:00December 23, 2024|

Parashat Vayeishev 5785

One of my favorite TV shows growing up (with reruns on METV) was “Green Acres,” the story of Oliver Wendell Douglas, a New York lawyer, and his Hungarian socialite wife, Lisa who move from Manhattan to a farm in a place called “Hooterville.” There they encounter all sorts of characters as they try to make their way in a very different world than they’re used to. Played by the late Ava Gabor, Lisa both fits into the community, and at the same time, doesn’t.

By Linda Ripps|2024-12-16T13:22:21-05:00December 16, 2024|

Parashat Vayishlah 5785

One night many years ago, I drove to the home of a congregant to lead an evening shiva minyan. As I approached the house, I saw that it was dark, but with candle flames flickering in the windows. Having walked into a variety of interesting shiva practices, I wondered what unusual ritual I was about to encounter – a séance? – and hoped it would be something I found reasonable.

By Linda Ripps|2024-12-09T10:54:41-05:00December 9, 2024|

Parashat Vayeitzei 5785

Vayeitzei is a parashah with bookends: It starts with flight and ends with flight; it starts with a pillar and ends with a pillar (מַּצֵּבָ֔ה); it starts with a vow and ends with a vow. Such a nice, tidy frame around, arguably, a lot of commotion. It’s in that commotion, however, where change occurs, insuring that the Jacob at the start of the parashah is not the same Jacob at its end.

By Linda Ripps|2024-12-03T14:42:27-05:00December 3, 2024|

Parashat Toledot – 5785

How does it feel to be unfavored?

By Linda Ripps|2024-11-25T11:04:08-05:00November 25, 2024|

D’var Torah Hayei Sarah – 5785

Recently I was thinking a good deal about the fact that with so much going on in Israel, around the world and even here, in the United States, we forget to talk about LOVE. Unfortunately, we constantly worry - no wonder we are called the “anxious generation.”

By Linda Ripps|2024-11-18T14:36:15-05:00November 18, 2024|

Parashat Vayeira 5785

As Abraham reached the final stage of implementing God’s request — ready to make the ultimate sacrifice of his own son — he suddenly saw a ram caught in the bushes. At the angel’s direction, he lifted the ram and placed it on the altar in place of Isaac, offering it as the sacrifice. For Abraham, this resolved the “test” and maintained the life of his son. But what of the ram, the being that had no choice but to be sacrificed? Besides serving as a substitute for Isaac, what meaning can we derive by looking at the Akeidah from the ram’s perspective?

By Linda Ripps|2024-11-12T11:52:56-05:00November 12, 2024|

Parashat Lekh Lekha 5785

It’s very different today. Churches, mosques and synagogues dot the landscape of many cities and towns throughout the world. Simply find the front door, enter and join in congregational worship or find a cozy spot within and start your own personal meditation. It has not always been that way. It certainly did not work that way thousands of years ago when one person, and only one person, had the understanding that the world was created by the One. A person would worship the sun, the moon or the stars or anything else within nature, but not their Creator.

By Linda Ripps|2024-11-04T11:43:42-05:00November 4, 2024|

Parashat Noah 5785

I cannot believe that a year has passed since I was invited to lead a Torah study session on this week’s Torah portion – Noah. Just two weeks after the jarring and heinous attack by Hamas on Israel, I could not imagine what I could teach that would bring comfort and strength to the people seated around the Torah study table. And yet… as we explored the various meanings of hamas, and the role of the keshet – the rainbow, it seemed to lift us; well, maybe just a little.

By Linda Ripps|2024-10-30T12:11:11-04:00October 30, 2024|

Parashat Bereisheet 5785

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?

By Linda Ripps|2024-10-21T15:04:37-04:00October 21, 2024|

Parashat Ha’azinu – 5785

Calling G-d “The Rock” seems such a familiar expression that you might expect to see it a lot in the Torah. But it is not until this week, in Parashat Ha’azinu - at almost the end of the Torah - that we first hear G-d referred to as “The Rock”:

By Linda Ripps|2024-09-30T11:31:44-04:00September 30, 2024|

Parshiyot Nitzavim-Vayelekh 5784

What does it mean to “choose life”?

By Linda Ripps|2024-09-23T12:12:39-04:00September 23, 2024|

Parashat Ki Tavo 5784

Parashat Ki Tavo, which we read this week, outlines a series of blessings contingent upon following God’s commandments and a series of curses for disobedience. This serves as a warning of what to expect upon entering the Promised Land.

By Linda Ripps|2024-09-16T18:05:05-04:00September 16, 2024|

Parashat Ki Teitzei 5784

Our parashah this week opens with a somewhat disturbing series on scenarios – a man takes a captured woman and makes her his wife, a man with two wives tries to favor the child of his preferred wife, and a rebellious son is killed for not listening to his parents. Rashi, based on Midrash Tanhuma, explains that this sequence is interconnected – forcing this woman to be his wife will lead to hatred and attempting to disinherit her son, leading to a rebellious child.

By Linda Ripps|2024-09-09T14:05:48-04:00September 9, 2024|

Parashat Shoftim 5784

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, Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2024-09-04T14:03:50-04:00September 4, 2024|

Parashat Re’eh 5784

See, this day I set before you blessing and curse: blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Eternal your God that I enjoin upon you this day; and curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Eternal your God, but turn away from the path that I enjoin upon you this day and follow other gods, whom you have not experienced. (Deut. 11:26-28)

By Linda Ripps|2024-08-26T14:33:50-04:00August 26, 2024|

Parashat Eikev 5784

Parashat Eikev brings to mind a personal remembrance – it was the first parashah which I called by its name!

By Linda Ripps|2024-08-19T15:00:22-04:00August 19, 2024|

Parashat Vaethanan 5784

The phrase “going above and beyond” may conjure up images of the superstar friend, neighbor, or colleague who brings a smile to our face when we think about the ways that they have been there for us and others over the years. Rabbis, cantors, and Jewish leaders in particular so often go above and beyond in the time and energy that they dedicate to their sacred work.

By Linda Ripps|2024-08-12T15:31:03-04:00August 12, 2024|

Parashat Devarim 5784

For Father’s Day this year, my children signed me up with a website called, Storyworth. Every week, they send me a prompt question (chosen by my daughter) to write about. At the end of the year, all the answers are assembled in a book. The first prompt question was, “What was it like learning to drive?” This is going to be easy, I thought.

By Linda Ripps|2024-08-05T14:35:31-04:00August 5, 2024|

Parashiyot Mattot-Masei 5784

Transitions. Life is full of them. We leave behind the past and embrace the future, and all the while, try to continue to live in the present. We see transitions play out every day, and as I write this, the United States is reacting to the news that President Biden has decided to not seek reelection, fully and wholeheartedly (as far as I can tell) endorsing and lifting up Vice President Kamala Harris.

By Linda Ripps|2024-07-30T11:34:27-04:00July 30, 2024|

Parashat Pinhas 5784

How can an Israeli soldier go back to sleep after battling in Gaza? I have been struggling with this question. It comes from the feeling that on top of the pain, sorrow, astonishment, and anger, we are now dealing with the fact that our people are forced to do something we didn't want. How do we achieve peace with the enemy? It is upon us and the enemy, hopefully soon; but how can our soldiers achieve peace with themselves?

By Linda Ripps|2024-07-22T11:35:33-04:00July 22, 2024|

Parashat Balak – 5784

Our parashah for this coming Shabbat, Parashat Balak, gives us much to think about in terms of the impact of our words as they translate into our actions.

By Linda Ripps|2024-07-16T13:50:32-04:00July 16, 2024|

Parashat Hukkat 5784

Our Torah portion this week begins with describing “zot hukkat haTorah - the ritual law” concerning the red heifer.

By Linda Ripps|2024-07-10T10:02:18-04:00July 10, 2024|

Parashat Korah 5784

“I’m falling on my face” is a phrase I heard many-a-time growing up. What it usually meant was “I’m exhausted,” “I have no more energy,” or “proceed without me.” When my mother would say it out loud, I knew enough to give her some space, or some time to rest, or get my tuchus in gear and help cook dinner.

By Linda Ripps|2024-07-01T11:00:47-04:00July 1, 2024|

Parashat Shelah 5784

A French Catholic teen’s first glimpse of Jews wrapped in their Tallitot led him to intuit one of Judaism’s essential values

By Linda Ripps|2024-06-24T16:59:46-04:00June 24, 2024|

Parashat Beha’alotekha 5784

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a prophet? To know things before they happened? This week’s parashah, Parashat Beha’alotekha, represents a master class in prophecy. Through a series of vignettes, the Torah provides insight into what it means to be a prophet.

In the first episode, several men come up to Moses and Aaron saying that they were unable to bring the Passover sacrifice because they were ritually unclean. Is there any way they can still participate (Num. 9:6-7)? All that Moses had learned from G-d was that the sacrifice was to be brought on the fourteenth day of the first month (Num. 9:5); there was nothing about what to do with people who were unable to participate at that time.

What should Moses do? Would he look weak if he admitted that he did not know the answer? Should he make his own interpretation?

What does Moses Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2024-06-17T10:55:24-04:00June 17, 2024|

Parashat Naso 5784

There is a beautiful place in the Ayalon Valley - west of Jerusalem - just 25 km away. It is called Latrun. The name Latrun may have been derived from “Le Toron des Chevaliers,” the name of a Crusader castle that once stood there. In modern times the hill is best known as the site of an important battle during the 1948 Israeli War of Independence.

By Linda Ripps|2024-06-11T09:33:00-04:00June 11, 2024|

Parashat Bemidbar 5784

Anyone who has spent several days in the desert knows the nighttime there—the human need to stay close to the nearby camp.

By Linda Ripps|2024-06-03T11:02:10-04:00June 3, 2024|

Parashat Behukotai 5784

“Why? Because, I said so!” Many of us heard those words as children, when we questioned something we were told to do. The reason given was, “Because I said so!” We ourselves may have said those words, as parents or teachers, in our roles as authority figures.

This week’s parashah, Behukotai, is named for hukkim, the rules mentioned in the opening verse. According to rabbinic tradition, hukkim are statutes for which there is no rationale. We are to obey them “because God said so.” The sages of the Talmud note, “And you shall keep my statutes (hukkotai; Leviticus 18:4)” refers to rules which may be challenged, because the reasons for them are not known. They cite a list of examples of such hukkim, including the prohibition against eating pork, against wearing shatnez (garments of diverse fabrics), and the scapegoat of the Yom Kippur ritual. The Talmudic passage concludes, “And lest you say these are meaningless acts, the Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2024-05-28T09:49:19-04:00May 28, 2024|

Parashat Behar 5784

Sylvia, z”l, passed away Erev Pesah at almost 100 years old. Although her loyalty was to the Valley Stream Jewish Center and Rabbi Yechiel, she often told me that I was her “favorite female rabbi.” She was intelligent and thoughtful, often adding her own “midrash” to our texts. She was raised to fight for civil rights, women’s rights and peace, and raised her children the same way. Her insights always added to our discussions.

By Linda Ripps|2024-05-20T12:02:24-04:00May 20, 2024|

Parashat Emor 5784

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.

By Linda Ripps|2024-05-15T15:57:30-04:00May 14, 2024|

Parashat Kedoshim 5784

Our parsha begins with the striking words: קְדֹשִׁ֣ים תִּהְי֑וּ כִּ֣י קָד֔וֹשׁ אֲנִ֖י ה׳ אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃ You shall be holy, for I, your God, am holy. (Lev. 19:2)

By Linda Ripps|2024-05-08T14:17:40-04:00May 8, 2024|

Parashat Aharei Mot

Parashat Aharei Mot gives us much to think about, to learn from, to understand and to challenge ourselves with. I’ve chosen to devote my D’var Torah to the anonymous and fascinating individual in this parashah, the ish iti – or “man of the hour” or “time-bound man”.

By Linda Ripps|2024-05-02T10:18:50-04:00May 2, 2024|

Shabbat Hol HaMoed Pesah – 5784

During the festival of Pesah, it is customary to read Shir HaShirim – Song of Songs, a beautiful collection of poetry extolling the splendor and the power of love.

By Linda Ripps|2024-04-26T13:39:54-04:00April 26, 2024|

Parashat Metzorah 5784

This week's Torah portion describes a “backdoor” entry into understanding the priesthood and the Tribe of Levi. Acts of Temple worship like the offering of sacrifices and the burning of aromatic herbs take place “up front,” where the Israelites in the courtyard (‘azarah) gaze in awe at the priests and Levites.

By Linda Ripps|2024-04-17T11:56:12-04:00April 17, 2024|

Parashat Tazria 5784

One of my rabbis used to tell a story about a time when his father was on death’s doorstep. He had been 30 days in a coma suffering from a rare blood infection. The doctor comes into the room and says, “I don’t think he’s going to make it. There is one more drug we can try, but it’s so strong— if it doesn’t help him, it could kill him.” He told my rabbi the name of the drug. “Oh!,” said my rabbi, “that is the same drug that I was given 40 years ago when I was sick with Typhoid fever. It saved my life.”

By Linda Ripps|2024-04-08T14:12:55-04:00April 8, 2024|

Parashat Shemini 5784

People sometimes ask questions to rabbis in the form, “Is there any Jewish significance to the number [x],” or “Is it true that [x] is an important number in Judaism?” Of course, the answer is always “yes.”

By Linda Ripps|2024-04-01T12:25:34-04:00April 1, 2024|

Parashat Tzav 5784

Well everybody’s got a secret, son Something they just can’t face Some spend their whole lives trying to keep it They carry it with them every step that they take ‘till one day, they just cut it loose Cut it loose or let it drag ‘em down. Bruce Springsteen, Darkness on the Edge of Town

By Linda Ripps|2024-03-26T10:28:21-04:00March 26, 2024|

Parashat Vayikra 5784

When I began studying Hebrew grammar with my friend Rabbi Amanda Brodie, one of the first things I learned about was the vav ha-hippukh (flipped), also called “the consecutive vav” or “narrative vav.” Normally, this letter serves as a prefix meaning “and,” “but” and sometimes “or,” and the word following is in the imperfect tense (an uncompleted action). But when this letter has a patah vowel (straight line) and the next letter has a dagesh (dot) inside, it “flips” and translates to something like, “and then….” basically suggesting a continuation of the narrative, and a perfect (completed) action.

By Linda Ripps|2024-03-18T11:57:17-04:00March 18, 2024|

Parashat Pekudei 5784

The portion Pikudei includes the action of building the mishkan, the portable sanctuary in the desert and the making of the vestments for the high priest.

By Linda Ripps|2024-03-13T16:31:15-04:00March 13, 2024|

Parashat VaYakhel 5784

In challenging times, how do we stay strong and sustain our spirits? When I am in need of sustenance for my soul, I find myself turning to stories of people who retained faith, hope and their humanity in the most horrific times and circumstances. A midrash on this week’s parashah, VaYakhel, imagines such a story. It is a story of women, from the ancient narrative of our people’s enslavement in Egypt.

By Linda Ripps|2024-03-05T10:46:32-05:00March 5, 2024|

Parashat Ki Tissa 5784

We are living in a time when good leadership is hard to find.

By Linda Ripps|2024-02-27T12:25:48-05:00February 27, 2024|

Parashat Tetzaveh -5784

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.

By Linda Ripps|2024-02-19T11:37:20-05:00February 19, 2024|

Parashat Terumah 5784

We have been freed from the bondage and oppressive servitude under Pharaoh. We have crossed the narrow passageway of the Reed Sea to freedom in the wilderness. We have stood at Sinai and entered into a covenant with God, saying “Na’aseh v’Nishmah” – We will follow God’s ways and seek to understand them. And, now, in this week’s Torah portion, God tells Moses to collect terumah – gifts of materials and supplies from the Israelites “[a]nd let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.” [Exodus 25:8] A list [Exodus 25:3-7] has been delineated: from precious metals to precious stones, an array of yarns to animal skins and goat hair, wood, oil and spices… All of this to be brought as terumah from each person whose heart so moves them;

By Linda Ripps|2024-02-12T12:14:38-05:00February 12, 2024|

Parashat Mishpatim 5784

“Na’aseh v’nishma (We will do and we will heed)”~ Shemot 24:7 Just Do It ~ The Nike slogan In my other life, I am a theater producer.

By Linda Ripps|2024-02-06T14:26:11-05:00February 6, 2024|

Parashat Yitro 5784

Moses was famously close with his father-in-law, Yitro (Jethro), the Priest of Midian. This week’s Torah portion is named after Yitro, celebrating the reunion between Moses and Yitro shortly after the Exodus from Egypt.

By Linda Ripps|2024-01-31T17:11:16-05:00January 31, 2024|

Parashat Beshalah 5784

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.

By Linda Ripps|2024-01-23T10:36:45-05:00January 23, 2024|

Parashat Bo 5784

The saying goes, “you can take the kid out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the kid.” How and where we grow up has a huge influence on how we move forward and live the rest of our lives.

By Linda Ripps|2024-01-16T13:18:27-05:00January 16, 2024|

Parashat Vaeira 5784

What’s in a name? A lot when you talk about the name of God.

By Linda Ripps|2024-01-09T09:42:09-05:00January 9, 2024|

Parashat Shemot 5784

Growing up in Uruguay, I learned about the Exodus in two different languages, Hebrew and Spanish. The Hebrew version spoke about the story that named the Book of the Torah—Moses's birth, rise, and glory as a leader. The Spanish version spoke about the birth, rise, and glory of a different leader: Jose Artigas, the leader of the Uruguayan people.

By Linda Ripps|2024-01-03T14:52:25-05:00January 3, 2024|

Parashat Vayehi 5784

As I prepared to write a D’var Torah for parashat Vayehi – with my Tanakh, my research notes and my computer open in front of me, my thoughts kept going to the date later in the week of the yahrzeit of my husband, Rabbi Joseph H. Wise z”l. I looked it up and parashat Vayehi was read on the Shabbat following his passing which seemed to further connect the parashah and the yahrzeit.

By Linda Ripps|2023-12-26T12:41:21-05:00December 26, 2023|

Parashat Vayigash 5784

We learn about Serah bat Asher (daughter of Asher) in our Torah portion, as she is listed with the names of the children of Israel who went down to Egypt with Jacob to reconnect with Joseph and to find a safe place with access to food during famine. (Gen. 46:17) We hear about her again when her name is listed with those who are making their way into the Promised Land after wandering in the wilderness for forty years. (Numbers 26:44-47) Wait! Just how much time has elapsed from going down into Egypt and entering the Promised Land… Four hundred years?

By Linda Ripps|2023-12-21T10:30:39-05:00December 21, 2023|

Parashat Mikeitz 5784

“How many children do you have?” This question, often posed as a simple social pleasantry, can be a complex one for a bereaved parent. Does one inject the intense, personal topic of a deceased child into a casual conversation with a stranger? Or does one ignore, not count, the child who is physically absent, but is still present in one’s heart and family?

By Linda Ripps|2023-12-11T12:00:37-05:00December 11, 2023|

Parashat Vayeishev 5784

“A dream can follow you, it will not be denied, Dreams can haunt your life until you them guide.” ~ from “Follow Your Dreams: Joseph’s Song” by Robin Anne Joseph

By Linda Ripps|2023-12-04T14:23:04-05:00December 4, 2023|

Parashat Vayishlah 5784

More than 30 years ago, the award-winning Israeli novelist David Grossman wrote a children’s book, איתמר פוגש ארנב Itamar pogesh arnav, “Itamar meets a rabbit.” It’s a story about a boy named Itamar who loves animals of all kinds, except that he is terrified of rabbits.

By Linda Ripps|2023-11-29T16:27:04-05:00November 29, 2023|

Parashat Vayeitzei 5784

Parashat Vayeitzei was my bat mitzvah portion, and while I remember chanting the Haftarah on Friday night and reading a speech I wrote (with lots of my father’s help!) about it, it wasn’t until AJR’s retreat where we explored this parashah through song, dance, art, intensive study and more that I realized how special it was, and how it spoke to me personally.

By Linda Ripps|2023-11-20T11:04:20-05:00November 20, 2023|

Parashat Toledot 5784

“Stop making sense, stop making sense Stop making sense, making sense” -Talking Heads, Girlfriend is Better (1983)

By Linda Ripps|2023-11-15T12:23:15-05:00November 15, 2023|

Parashat Hayei Sarah 5784

The portion Hayei Sarah, the life of Sarah, reflects more on her death, and how her husband, Abraham, buys land in Canaan to bury her. In fact, Abraham’s purchase of the land, at an exorbitant price, is the first purchase of land in Canaan recorded in the Torah.

By Linda Ripps|2023-11-06T14:09:48-05:00November 6, 2023|

Parashat Vayeira 5784

Rachel Edri served tea and Moroccan cookies to Hamas terrorists carrying grenades until police stormed her house in the south of Israel and rescued her on October 7, 2023. After an early-morning air raid siren, Rachel and her husband returned from a bomb shelter in her hometown of Ofakim to find a band of Hamas militants in her living room.

By Linda Ripps|2023-10-30T18:02:20-04:00October 30, 2023|

Parashat Lekh Lekha 5784

A major theme in parashat Lekh Lekha is the account of God’s covenant with Abraham and with the generations which will follow him.

By Linda Ripps|2023-10-23T15:39:04-04:00October 23, 2023|

Parashat Bereisheet 5784

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.

By Linda Ripps|2023-10-16T13:33:53-04:00October 16, 2023|

Parashat Bereisheet 5784

וַיִּקְרָ֛א יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶל־הָֽאָדָ֑ם וַיֹּ֥אמֶר ל֖וֹ אַיֶּֽכָּה׃ The ETERNAL God called to the human and said to him: Ayekha? (Gen. 3:9)

By Linda Ripps|2023-10-09T13:45:41-04:00October 9, 2023|

Parashat Ha’azinu

As we move from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur, this week we read Parashat Ha’azinu, Moses’ farewell song. There are many fruitful portions of the parashah upon which to focus, but my attention immediately gravitates to the phrase וַיִּשְׁמַן יְשֻׁרוּן וַיִּבְעָט (“and Yeshurun grew fat and kicked”; Deut. 32:15).

By Linda Ripps|2023-09-18T18:12:53-04:00September 18, 2023|

Parashiyot Nitzavim-Vayeilekh 5783

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” -Inaugural Address of Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt (March 4, 1933)

By Linda Ripps|2023-09-06T09:33:14-04:00September 6, 2023|

Parashat Ki Tavo – 5783

A couple weeks ago, I had the privilege of talking with someone interested in converting to Judaism. Since the pandemic, I have noticed an uptick in people interested in converting with me. In the conversation, I asked them more about themselves, their story, and their interest in casting their lot with the Jewish people. And although I’ve heard several answers now to this question of “Why do you want to convert?”, I had never heard this one before.

By Linda Ripps|2023-08-30T17:28:14-04:00August 28, 2023|

Parashat Ki Teitzei – 5783

I recently visited the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and managed to have timed my visit to be able to view the exhibit “Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina”. It was beautiful, and it was painful. Beautiful, because the pottery was subtly exquisite. Painful, because each piece was made by an enslaved human being, subjected to horrors we cannot begin to imagine. In the South in the mid-1800s, the phrase “buy local” had a whole different connotation. “Buy local” meant support the slave industry with your economic decisions. Don’t buy from the North – goods made by free people. The paradoxical mix of beauty and pain found in the Old Edgefield pottery is not so uncommon. We find it frequently in the Torah. The beauty is in the fact that the words are part of our ancient and sacred tradition. The pain is in what those words say.

By Linda Ripps|2023-08-22T13:31:06-04:00August 22, 2023|

Parashat Shoftim 5783

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 of their dispute.

By jackielebwohl|2023-08-14T18:02:21-04:00August 14, 2023|

Parashat Re’eh 5783

It’s been said that one person’s religion is another person’s superstition. So when in this week’s parasha, Re’eh, the Israelites are told to build an altar on one of the Canaanite mountains upon their entrance into the Promised Land, but not before they are told to “utterly destroy” [Deut. 12.2] the altars that are already there, well—why am I not surprised? Both the Israelites and the Canaanites have a long relationship with mountains. And often they’re the same mountains! But the Canaanites were there first. Sacred ancient Israelite shrines were often conveniently located on the same hilltops as former (and sometimes destroyed) ancient Canaanite shrines. So, which religion is legit and which is simply superstition?

By jackielebwohl|2023-08-10T16:59:14-04:00August 10, 2023|

Parashat Vaethanan 5783

This week’s Shabbat bears a special name, "Shabbat Nahamu” – the Shabbat of Comfort. Shabbat Nahamu comes on the heels of the saddest day on the Jewish calendar -- Tisha b’Av. This is the day on which both Temples were destroyed. Moreover, other catastrophes fell on this date – the day Bar Kokhba (the leader of the revolt against the Romans) was killed in 133 C.E., the day in 1290 when the Jews were expelled from England, the day in 1492 when the Jews were forced to convert or flee Spain. And, in 1914, the day on which World War I, and the horrors to follow, began. Tisha b’Av, the Rabbis say, is a day set aside for sorrows. And not only our national sorrows, but our personal ones as well. It makes you wonder why we don’t just curl up in a ball and stay under the covers every Tisha b’Av. But we don’t hide from our sadness; we re-live it. We sit on the ground, fast, recite Kinot (dirges) and read Eikha (Lamentations). We mourn. We embrace our sorrow. For it, too, is part of life.

By jackielebwohl|2023-08-10T15:34:49-04:00July 24, 2023|

Parashat Devarim 5783

There’s a lot in our tradition that is difficult to accept.

One of the concepts that seems especially not to square with our lived experience is the theology of Divine reward and punishment. It’s hard to reconcile for me, for many in the Jewish community, and for many of the students I work with. The haftarah that we’ll read on this Shabbat Hazon sums it up well:

אִם־ תֹּאב֖וּ וּשְׁמַעְתֶּ֑ם ט֥וּב הָאָ֖רֶץ תֹּאכֵֽלוּ׃

וְאִם ־תְּמָאֲנ֖וּ וּמְרִיתֶ֑ם חֶ֣רֶב תְּאֻכְּל֔וּ כִּ֛י פִּ֥י יְ-הֹוָ֖ה דִּבֵּֽר

If you are willing and obey, you will eat the best of the land.

But if you refuse and disobey, you will be devoured by the sword, for the mouth of G-d spoke. (Isaiah 1:19-20)

This is just not true. It’s hard to imagine, frankly, that it was ever true. But in the decades after the Holocaust, it seems especially impossible to believe. Worse, it’s offensive. Because the argument for it to be true would be that Read More >

By jackielebwohl|2023-07-28T10:47:21-04:00July 17, 2023|

Parshyiot Mattot-Masei 5783

In this week’s parashah, Moses recounts the starting points of each of the places visited by the Israelites during their 40 year trek on the way to the Promised Land. “Moses recorded the starting points as directed by the Lord (al pi Adonai )”. (Num. 33:2) For what purpose is God’s command for Moses to catalogue each station encountered as the journey nears completion and why davka by their starting points?

Moses has been intimately involved in the entire journey, especially from the moment the Israelites broke camp on the 20^th day of the 2^nd year. (Num. 10:11) It’s not as if he needs to record the stations to remember the journey. All the treks from that point on were conducted in an intimate partnership between Moses and the Divine: “On a sign from the Lord (al pi Adonai) they made camp and on a sign from the Lord they Read More >

By jackielebwohl|2023-07-28T10:45:30-04:00July 10, 2023|

Parashat Pinhas 5783

The way we respond to very difficult stories in the Torah can teach us a lot about the complexities of being human. Two common reactions to the stories that shock us, maybe even disgust us, might be to reject the whole Torah and its jealous and angry God or to simply not pay attention to the parts of the Torah we don’t like and only learn from its ethical teachings and uplifting stories.

I would like to suggest a third approach, one that begins with seeing the Torah as the beginning of a conversation and not as the end of one. This means not only acknowledging the compassionate and loving side of being human but our more shadowy characteristics as well, such as the desire to murder, rid ourselves of people who we see as harmful to us, and obsessive sexual desires. Just as these are all in the Torah as well as inside each of us, I believe the way we Read More >

By jackielebwohl|2023-07-28T10:43:16-04:00July 6, 2023|

Parshiyot Hukkat-Balak 5783

I delight in the robins, cardinals, and other common birds that I regularly see and hear in my yard, and their presence brings me joy. But recently, thanks to the wonders of technology in the form of the Merlin app produced by Cornell University, my ears, mind, and heart have been opened to the knowledge that there are many other, less common and well-known birds, right here in my own backyard. Through the ability of this app to inform me of the birds around me by recording their songs, I have discovered that rose-breasted grosbeaks, warbling vireos, chimney swifts, and cedar waxwings are prone to visiting my neighborhood. Who knew! What a wonder! The joy, uplift, delight, and hope that awareness of these mostly unseen birds bring me is deep and unbounded. They make my day.

Balak, King of Moab, sends Bilam to curse the Israelites. Along the way, Bilam has Read More >

By jackielebwohl|2023-07-28T10:41:52-04:00June 26, 2023|

Parashat Korah 5783

Way back in 2017 — which feels like a lifetime ago! — my synagogue started an initiative that we called “Have a Drink with a Political Opponent.”

The concept was simple. We set up a simple online questionnaire which asked questions like: how do you identify yourself politically; what’s the political affiliation of someone you would like to have a calm, rational conversation with; what are some issues of special interest and some issues you don’t want to discuss; do you prefer wine, beer, or coffee. The program organizer then matched people up, and the synagogue offered to cover the cost of the drinks.

We made it clear that this program was for dialogue, not debate: the goal was not to change anyone’s mind, but to better understand others and to have one’s own perspective understood by others.

We created this program after hearing from many people in our community that they could not imagine how anyone could be Read More >

By jackielebwohl|2023-07-28T10:40:27-04:00June 19, 2023|

Parashat Shelah Lekha 5783

God is out of patience, ready to give up on the grumbling Israelites. God and Moshe have attempted to transform a group of homeless, freed slaves into a nation, while the people have struggled with dissension, lack of faith and understandable fears about their future. They complain, rebel and grumble. (The Book of Numbers might also be called the Book of Grumblers!)

In this week’s parasha, this “generation of the wilderness,”dor ha-midbar, has committed the second of its most egregious acts of rebellion. Earlier, they built and worshipped a golden calf. In Shelah lekha, twelve scouts, a leader from each tribe, report on their mission to check out the promised land. They all agree that the land is fertile and desirable, but ten of the twelve recommend against going forward, stirring fear and doubt and demoralizing the people. The Israelites declare, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we might die in the wilderness!” And Read More >

By jackielebwohl|2023-07-28T10:38:32-04:00June 13, 2023|

Parashat Beha’alotkha 5783

In my spiritual journey I have come across a difficulty that in Buddhist thought is taught to be the cause of much of our suffering. This is the phenomenon of craving. The human characteristic of craving is often confused with desire. Distinguishing between healthy desire and craving / unhealthy desire takes both thoughtful self-reflection into the source of desire and the consequences of acting on our desires. Craving originates in our fears, from trauma, loneliness and doubt. Healthy desires emanate from gratitude, love, compassion and the joy of connecting to our deepest selves, each other and the world.

We see the results of craving in how the lust for wealth, sex, food or alcohol have ruinous results for ourselves, our relationships and our planet. We also see how healthy desire manifests itself in acts of kindness, artistic creations, and in those who teach and share their knowledge, interests, and wonder of the world with others.

In Parashat Beha’alotekha, a group of Israelites have Read More >

By jackielebwohl|2023-07-28T10:36:28-04:00June 6, 2023|

Parashat Nasso 5783

There’s a cartoon I once saw where a guru in a loincloth sits cross-legged at the top of a mountain. Before him is a matronly-looking woman in Western clothes who has climbed almost to the summit. The caption: “Murray, darling, when are you coming home?”

Many of us have the idea that a life of holiness means a life of privation. What does Judaism have to say about this?

In this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Nasso, we read about the nazir. This is a man or woman who “explicitly utters a nazirite’s vow, to set themselves apart for G-d.” (Num. 6:2)

Having made this vow, the nazir takes on three restrictions:

1. No wine or strong drink,
2. No haircuts, and
3. Not being near someone who has died.

Three people in Tanakh seem to have fit the description of a nazir:

– Samson, whose mother was told by an angel: “You are going to conceive and bear a son; let no razor touch his head, for Read More >

By jackielebwohl|2023-06-01T10:59:07-04:00May 30, 2023|

A D’var Torah for Shavuot – 5783

Forty is the number of transformation in the Torah. And there are even too many examples to list! It rained for 40 days and 40 nights to transform the antediluvian world to our post-flood world. The 12 spies scouted the Land for 40 days and then the Children of Israel wandered in the desert for 40 years – to transform the people once bound by a slavery mindset to a people who could operate with a freedom mindset. Moses and G-d had a 40-day and 40-night havruta on top of Mount Sinai – to transform the Jewish people from pre-Torah to having received the Torah. Indeed, from Rosh Hodesh Elul to Yom Kippur is a 40-day period, marking our annual journeys with our own process of heshbon hanefesh and teshuvah.

Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, in his book Waters of Eden, delved into the meaning of mikvah and the significances of the number 40. The mikvah is the paradigmatic Jewish ritual of transformation. We are, Read More >

By jackielebwohl|2023-06-01T10:52:53-04:00May 24, 2023|

Parashat Bemidbar 5783

“The straight line belongs to men, the curved one to God”

~ Antoni Gaudi, architect

In case we missed it, we begin this book of the Torah with a reminder: we’re BaMidbar—in the desert.

Still.

But why? What are the Israelites still doing in the desert? After one year and one month, couldn’t they make it through the desert any faster? It really shouldn’t take more than a few weeks to get from Egypt to Israel, even you are traveling on foot with hundreds of thousands of people and a lot of livestock.

But not to worry; at the beginning of Parashat BeMidbar, we seem to be at an inflection point. The Israelites must surely be thinking that their travels are coming to an end. As they ceremoniously take stock of the able-bodied men from among their tribes who will form an army to battle any peoples who might try to stop them (Numbers 1:1-4), Read More >

By jackielebwohl|2023-06-01T10:54:35-04:00May 16, 2023|

Parashiyot Behar-Behukotai 5783

The second of this week’s parashiyot, Behukotai, lists the various blessings in store for those who observe all of God’s commandments and enumerates the multitude of curses awaiting those who ignore or disobey. While the underlying theology, that our actions are the immediate catalyst for the good and bad we see in the world, may not resonate for some of us, I would like to focus on a different dimension of the correlation between our actions and a divine response.

“And if these things fail to discipline you for Me, and you remain hostile to Me, I too will remain hostile to you…” (Lev. 26:23-24).

God’s response to human hostility (קֶרִי) is divine hostility (קֶרִי). The quoted passage suggests, in rabbinic parlance, מידה כנגד מידה, “a measure for measure” response. The sense of commensurateness between deed, on the one hand, and reward or punishment, on the other, undergirds many approaches to Read More >

By jackielebwohl|2023-06-01T10:56:55-04:00May 8, 2023|

Parashat Emor 5783

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
the Mystery—
minuscule though we are,
you hold
and I hold,
the power
to wreak havoc;

…any place sacred to the One— (Lev. 21:23)
is there a place not cherished
by the Initiator
of all
holding that hallowedness?
what does it take
for us to notice the sanctity
feel it
respect it
care Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T15:42:32-04:00May 2, 2023|

Parshiyot Aharei Mot-Kedoshim 5783

“Hokheiah tokhiah et amitekha.” “You shall surely reprove your fellow.” (Leviticus 19:17) Giving critical feedback, or tokhehah (often translated as “reproof” or “rebuke”), is a positive mitzvah in the Torah.

Perhaps this shouldn’t surprise us, as constructive critique and feedback is a primary way that we learn and grow. And yet, already in the time of the Talmud, two of the greatest sages of their generation indicated that almost everyone who attempts to fulfill this mitzvah is doing it wrong.

In the Babylonian Talmud, Arakhin 16b, Rabbi Tarfon and Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah differ about why the system of tokhehah seems to be broken. According to Rabbi Tarfon, “I would be surprised if there is anyone in this generation who can receive rebuke. If the one rebuking says ‘Remove the splinter from between your eyes,’ the other responds: ‘Remove the beam from between your eyes!’” In other words, the experience of receiving criticism, even when generously offered, tends to activate Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T22:22:28-04:00April 24, 2023|

Parshiyot Tazria-Metzorah 5783

Click here for an audio recording of this D’var Torah

A D’var Torah for Parshiyot Tazria-Metzorah
By Rabbi Matthew Goldstone

Reading Parshiyot Tazria-Metzorah this year I can’t help but think about bodily autonomy and the conversations taking place across the United States about the legality of abortion and related procedures. The Torah establishes a system in which those in power, the priests, are tasked with looking at a part of a person’s body to dictate their ritual status. Based upon their determination, the person may be socially isolated and required to shave portions of their body. The voyeurism coupled with a religiously-imposed obligation to do something with, or to, one’s body, grates against modern notions of personal autonomy.

And yet, at the same time, I realize that I actually do subscribe to certain bodily limitations and restrictions imposed by governing powers. להבדיל,[1] I endorse vaccination requirements for people to enter certain spaces. Even beyond Covid-19, I expect public schools to mandate Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T12:07:38-04:00April 17, 2023|

Parashat Shemini 5783

The Bitter and the Sweet
A D’var Torah for Parashat Shemini
By Rabbi Greg Schindler (’09)

Most of us are familiar with the concept of a hyperlink. Case in point: hyperlink. When you click on a hyperlink, you begin a journey connecting the idea on the page to a related concept. Quite the innovation, right?

Yes, indeed. The hyperlinks embedded in the Torah were quite the innovation.

Wait, what? The Torah?

In Jewish tradition, a hyperlink is called a gezerah shaveh – where the same words are used in two different cases in order to shed light upon each case. In this way, the Torah comments upon itself. For example, in Num. 28:2 we read that the daily burnt offering is to be brought “בְּמוֹעֲדוֹ ” (bimoado) – “at its appointed time”, meaning even on Shabbat. In Num. 9:2, we similarly read that the Passover offering is to be brought “בְּמוֹעֲדוֹ” (bimoado). From this, the rabbis determined that, just as the Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T12:07:52-04:00April 10, 2023|

Hol HaMoed Pesah 5783

Click here for an audio recording of this D’var Torah

A D’var Torah for Hol HaMoed Pesah
By Rabbi Ira J. Dounn (’17)

The Passover story, which we recount in our seders this week, highlights Moses (on behalf of G-d) telling Pharoah to “Let My people go!” (Exodus 5:1)

And yet I wonder: What are the things that we are holding onto? What do we need to let go of in our own lives?

The pre-Passover purge might indicate that we’re not too shabby at letting go of things. The spring cleaning that features the throwing away, giving away, or selling of our hametz is a reminder to us that it’s good to let things go.

But anyone who has had the unenviable job of cleaning out the home of a loved one who has passed away might find the task more daunting. In this instance, the only physical thing we have left of the person are their Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T12:08:28-04:00April 3, 2023|

Parashat Tzav 5783

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Constancy and Careful Guarding: How to Link the Jewish Past with the Future
A D’var Torah for Parashat Tzav
By Rabbi Mitchell Blank (’21)

This coming Shabbat is the last one before Passover begins (Shabbat HaGadol) and the Torah reading this year falls on Parashat Tzav. Both Tzav and Exodus 12, the chapter that details Passover observance, emphasize the biblical world view that constancy of action (temidut) and careful guarding of ritual (shemira) are the glue linking past and future generations. The Rabbis endorse these paths to Jewish survival yet also understand that the ultimate guarantor of continuity in an ever-changing world is intergenerational peace. Passover, the time of our freedom and redemption, is davka the holiday our sages choose to accentuate that the most important mitzvah is to maintain Jewish continuity by children and parents being in dialogue.

Parashat Tzav begins with particulars of Olat HaTamid, the daily burnt offering. Intertwined in these details is a related command, Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T12:08:38-04:00March 27, 2023|

Parashat Vayikra 5783

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Keeping focus on sacred connections
A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayikra
by Rabbi Steven Altarescu (’14)

The Book of Vayikra begins where Exodus leaves off. The Israelites have finished building the Mishkan and God has shown approval through the appearance of a cloud of God’s Presence. Exodus thus ends triumphantly with a description of the work being finished;

“Now the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Presence of YHVH filled the Mishkan” (Exodus 40:34)

We are then told that Moses:

“was not able to come into the Tent of Meeting for the cloud was dwelling on it and the Presence of YHVH filled the Mishkan.” (Exodus 40:35)

Vayikra begins with God calling out to Moses:

“YHVH called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting…” (Leviticus 1:1)

The building of the Mishkan and the blessing of God’s presence add a sense of completion to Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T12:08:48-04:00March 20, 2023|

Parshiyot Vayakhel-Pekudei 5783

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Where do we face in our holy space?
A D’var Torah for Parshiyot Vayakhel-Pekudei
By Rabbi Rob Scheinberg

“Once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, “and what is the use of a book,” thought Alice, “without pictures or conversations?” — Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Alice might have approved of the Talmud, which has conversations among the sages on every page. But she might have been disappointed that there are not very many pictures. There is, however, an evocative picture inspired by a verse from this week’s Torah portion, found in printed editions of the Babylonian Talmud in Rashbam’s commentary to Tractate Bava Batra 99a, that carries some relevance for us as we Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T12:08:59-04:00March 13, 2023|

Parashat Ki Tissa 5783

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The Golden Calf: Not a Tantrum, but a Meltdown
A D’var Torah for Parashat Ki Tissa and Shabbat Parah
By Rabbi Katy Allen (’05)

Perhaps the golden calf was inevitable,
and perhaps
even necessary.
Egel ha’masekhah, the molten calf (Ex. 32:4),
the meltdown–
the internal or external loss of control
stemming from demands
stress
over-stimulation
disruption
or overwhelming emotions.
Not a tantrum.

Not a tantrum
but the breaking down
that leads to breaking open.

G!d demanded so much,
and all at once
and in no uncertain terms.
Moses seemingly disappeared
just when everyone’s lives
were being overwhelmingly disrupted
stimulated
changed irrevocably.

Has it ever happened to you?

Hamasekhah hanesukhah
the veil that is spread over all the nations (Is. 25:7)
the veil of mourning that covers us all (BDB)
G!d will remove it,
and will “wipe away the tears” (I s. 25:8)
from all our faces.

But first, Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T12:09:07-04:00March 7, 2023|

Parashat Tetzaveh 5783

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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 Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T12:09:17-04:00February 27, 2023|

Parashat Terumah 5783

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The Impermanence of the Natural world and the Eternity of God’s Presence
A D’var Torah for Parashat Terumah
By Rabbi Mitchell Blank (’21)

As I write these words, the death toll has risen to over 36,000 and tens of thousands more have been injured, let alone the untold number who have become homeless and penniless. Life on earth is truly fragile and it’s sad that only violent tragedies such as the recent earthquake centered in Turkey and Syria seem to be able to wake us up to the reality of the impermanence of it all. In these moments, we cry out to God: Where are you?! Yet, we know that this apparent absence of the Divine is beyond our comprehension. In better times, we can occasionally feel God’s presence. We acknowledge this natural oscillation in our understanding of God in the Kedushah for Musaf: “God’s glory fills the universe” but Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T12:09:26-04:00February 20, 2023|

Parashat Mishpatim 5783

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Yearning for Divine Intimacy, and the Call of Ordinary Life
A D’var Torah for Parashat Mishpatim
By Dr. Yakir Englander

The weekly Torah portion – Parashat Mishpatim – opens with a long list of laws governing daily life. On the face of it, there is no hint of the previous portion’s numinous encounter between the People of Israel and the Divine at Mount Sinai. The dark cloud and the thunderous voices are gone, and instead we find Israel saddled with a tedious inventory of colorless rules.

And yet, as this portion unfolds, we learn of more intimate divine/human encounters – described now with a kind of holy pathos. The people respond, to each of the divine injunctions, na’aseh ve-nishma’ – “We will do, and we will hear!” Moses and Aaron, with the latter’s two sons and also seventy elders representing Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T12:09:35-04:00February 13, 2023|

Parashat Yitro 5783

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Yitro
By Rabbi Greg Schindler (’09)

“She generally gave herself very good advice (although she very seldom followed it)”

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

How good are you at taking advice?

I know that I could use a lot of work in this department, especially when it comes to unsolicited advice. If someone starts a sentence with, “I think you should”, I often nod my head appreciatively… and tune out.

This seems to be a part of human nature. According to research, people generally start out with a personal bias towards their own opinions, and discount the advice of others.

Most of us feel like the Duchess in Alice: “If everybody minded their own business ..the world would go round a deal faster than it does.”

Perhaps to counteract this bias, our tradition is replete with advice about Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T12:09:44-04:00February 6, 2023|

Parashat Beshalah 5783

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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 Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T12:09:52-04:00February 1, 2023|

Parashat Bo 5783

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Moses Gone Rogue
A D’var Torah for Parashat Bo
By Cantor Robin Anne Joseph (’96)

In this week’s Torah portion, Bo, Moses goes rogue.

True, he has already been known to have “acted out,” shall we say. There was the incident of Moses killing an Egyptian taskmaster upon seeing him beating a Hebrew slave, so we know Moses has a temper, but that was before Moses was under the tutelage of ‘ה. Doesn’t Moses now have an obligation to adhere to the directives of this Higher Power?

It seems to start out that way. ‘ה has given Moses the task of administering the plagues and Moses has been faithfully carrying out that task. Up to this point, between the efforts of ‘ה, and Aaron and Moses as directed by ‘ה, the plagues seem Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T12:10:00-04:00January 24, 2023|

Parashat Vaeira 5783

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The Presence and Absence of Names
A D’var Torah for Parashat Vaeira
By Rabbi Robert Scheinberg

Last week’s Torah portion, the first Torah person of the Book of Exodus, is called “Shemot,” which means “names.” And in fact, the Torah portion begins with the names of the sons of Jacob who descended to Egypt and had become the ancestors of the Tribes of Israel. But in a Torah portion which is called “Shemot,” there are relatively few personalities in last week’s Torah portion whose names are listed.

For example, the birth and very early life of the most significant person in the entire Torah are described as follows in last week’s Torah portion: (Exodus 2) “A man from the house of Levi married a woman who was a daughter of Levi. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw how beautiful he was, she hid Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T12:10:08-04:00January 16, 2023|

Parashat Shemot 5783

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Shemot
By Rabbi Katy Allen (’05)

I’m glad I wasn’t an Egyptian back then.
I’m glad I wasn’t there
to be ordered by Pharaoh
to throw newborn babies
into the river. (Exodus 1:22)

Although, I’ve heard that I might not necessarily
have had to drown any babies myself ‒
I might, instead, have had to force my neighbors,
the Israelites,
to drown their own babies (Or HaHaim).
I’m glad I didn’t have to do that either.

It’s also possible,
the whispers through the generations tell me ‒
and I shudder in response ‒
that if I myself had given birth
the day that Moses was born,
I might have had to kill my own baby,
Egyptian though he would have been. (Sotah 12a)
Of all the terrible things our sacred tradition tells us

that Pharaoh did,
I find that telling his own people
to snatch up baby Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T12:10:19-04:00January 10, 2023|

Parashat Veyehi 5783

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Wrestling With Our Names: Lessons from Jacob/Israel
A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayehi
By Rabbi Rena Kieval (’06)

Each of us has a name
given by God
and given by our parents
Each of us has a name
given by our stature and our smile
and given by what we wear

Each of us has a name
given by the mountains
and given by our walls

Each of us has a name
given by the stars
and given by our neighbors

Each of us has a name
given by our sins
and given by our longing

Each of us has a name
given by our enemies
and given by our love

Each of us has a name
given by our celebrations
and given by our work

Each of us has a name
given by the seasons
and given by our blindness

Each of us has a name
given by the sea
and given by
our death.

© Translation: 2004, Marcia Lee Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T12:10:26-04:00January 3, 2023|

Parashat Vayigash 5783

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Anti-Shemitism: The Power of Names to Turn Us Into an Abomination
A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayigash
By Rabbi Mitchell Blank (’21)

In a recent notorious SNL monologue, Dave Chappelle proclaims: “There are two words in the English language you should never say together, in sequence, and those words are “the” and “Jews”.” As per Chappelle, this would violate the “show business rules of perception: If they’re Black it’s a gang, if they’re Italian, it’s a mob but if they’re Jewish; it’s a coincidence and you should never speak about it.” Each group receives its own racial or ethnic epithet. As for the Jews, they control Hollywood. In Chappelle’s opinion, Jewish control is so pervasive that even naming “the Jews” will unleash a severe backlash against anyone who tries. Jews are uniquely noxious in that epithets are insufficient to dirty our name. In addition, Jews are allegedly so Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T12:10:35-04:00December 27, 2022|

Parashat Mikeitz 5783

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Mikeitz
By Rabbi Ira Dounn (’17)

How is the arc of your own story bending right now?

I think about Martin Luther King, Jr.’s quote “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice” often, particularly when a desired outcome hasn’t yet been achieved. MLK is reminding us to have hope despite the slow pace at which it seems progress sometimes occurs.

To this point, Joseph has had a tough life. Although originally the favorite child, Joseph’s brothers act on their intense jealousy, throw him into the pit, and sell him into slavery. His position as a slave in Egypt is initially comfortable and successful, all things considered, since “G-d was with Joseph” (Gen. 39:2). But after he is falsely accused of sexually assaulting Potiphar’s wife, back down into “the pit” he goes and he is thrown Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T12:10:43-04:00December 19, 2022|

Parashat Vayeishev 5783

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayeishev
By Rabbi Greg Schindler (’09)

Dedicated to the memory of my dear wife Barucha Esther bat Daniel v’Rachel (z”l)

Dream On

Dream on/ Dream on / Dream on
Dream until your dreams come true
– Steven Tyler (Aerosmith)

Did you ever have a dream that came true?

The Talmud tells us that a dream is one-sixtieth of prophecy. (Berakhot 57b) But the trouble with dreams is, they require interpretation.

Rav Hisda said, “A dream not interpreted is like a letter not read.” (Berakhot 55a) Dream interpretation is made especially difficult by the “red herrings” in dreams: “Just as it is impossible for the grain to grow without straw, so it is impossible to dream without idle matters.” (ibid.)

Moreover, the Sages claim that the actualization of a dream depends on its interpretation: “Rabbi Bena’a Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T12:10:54-04:00December 12, 2022|

Parashat Vayishlah 5783

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My Parasha
A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayishlah
By Rabbi Andrew Hechtman (’03)

On most any Shabbat the world over, b’nei mitzvah children rise before their community and state an affirmative obligation to maintain Jewish identity and live a Jewish future. Most often, they deliver a D’var Torah (teaching) beginning with the words… “My Parasha is ____”. We encourage our children to take ownership of their Torah. As Jews, only knowing the “facts” about Judaism is “livatala”, meaningless, unless accompanied by an evolving Jewish identity.

The concept of differentiation of self is at the core of Bowen Family Systems Theory. Differentiation addresses how individuals differ from each other in terms of their sensitivity to one another and their varying abilities to maintain and preserve a degree of autonomy in the face of other social pressures. The struggle for balance and harmony in our lives is at the Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T12:11:04-04:00December 5, 2022|

Parashat Vayeitzei 5783

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayeitzei
By Rabbi Steven Altarescu (’14)

We are often running from place to place, from errand to errand, doing our best, tripping up, falling down and getting up and running some more. We face challenges and sometimes we face them with wisdom and sometimes we fail at them. Life can feel like moving on a line, horizontally.

In the last number of years, through the last few election cycles and through the pandemic, we can feel we are running for our lives. Motivated by saving democracy and freedom, and to keep ourselves and our loved ones healthy, while still trying to function in the world. We do not know what is next, both from a political perspective and from a medical perspective, and yet we keep moving. I believe it is very easy to get entangled in our daily lives and lose hope and a Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T12:11:12-04:00November 28, 2022|

Parashat Toledot 5783

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Toledot
By Cantor Robin Anne Joseph (’96)

“Still waters run deep.”

Coined several centuries before Shakespeare’s take-off in Henry VI, Part 2—Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep—this idiom seems to date back to the Latin: Altissima quaeque flumina minimo sono labi—The deepest rivers flow with the smallest sound.

That’s our Isaac—our ancestor with the least to say, but perhaps with the most bubbling underneath the surface. Maybe that’s why, in this week’s Torah portion, Toledot, Isaac is busy digging wells. Let’s unearth this situation together…

What’s bothering Isaac?

A question usually reserved for dissecting a Rashi teaching, I think we could ask the same of Isaac. What is bothering this poor soul to lead him to this seemingly compulsive action of digging not one, not two, but five wells in fairly quick succession? What is going on with all this digging? From my Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T12:07:00-04:00November 21, 2022|

Parashat Hayei Sarah 5783

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Hayei Sarah
By Rabbi Katy Allen (’05)

Hayei Sarah –
the life of Sarah
tells of her death.
Abraham is old,
nearing his death as well,
and he says to his servant,
I will make you swear—
I, Abraham, will make you,
another human being,
swear an oath unto G!d.
On my deathbed,
I will make you promise.

What right have we
to force someone else
to promise something
in the name of G!d?
Can it really be valid?
Can it really be sound to its core?

And, it’s about finding a wife
for his son, Isaac.
Swear, Abraham says to his servant,
swear in the name of all that is sacred and holy,
that you won’t take a wife for my son
from among these Canaanites,
but that you will go back
to the land of my birth
and find him a wife there.
AND DON’T ON ANY ACCOUNT
TAKE ISAAC WITH YOU!

Why is this command,
with such vehemence,
needed at all?
After all, we are taught Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T12:06:51-04:00November 14, 2022|

Parashat Vayeira 5783

How Do you Make a Well or a Ram Disappear? By Rabbi Rob Scheinberg Twenty years ago, two experimental psychologists at Harvard, named Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons, created what has become one of the most famous experiments in the behavioral sciences. The participants in this study were given a simple task. They just had to watch a brief video that included several people passing basketballs back and forth to each other. Three of these players were wearing white shirts, and three were wearing black shirts. The task was simple: watch the ball that was being passed among the players with the white shirts, and count how many times the basketball was passed. This is not difficult – most people came up with the right number.

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T15:04:46-05:00November 7, 2022|

Parashat Lekh Lekh 5783

A D'var Torah for Parashat Lekh Lekha By Rabbi Rena Kieval ('06) Be a blessing! Vehe-yei berakha! I am always struck by the profound, surprising and somewhat mysterious words spoken by God to begin a new relationship with Abraham. God might have opened with something more like, “Follow this important set of rules I will give you,” “You shall believe in Me,” or, “Let us enter into a covenant.” In time, the Torah will present all of those frameworks for a life with God, but God’s momentous first call to Abraham sets the stage with a series of statements about blessing: “I will bless you, those who bless you will be blessed, those who curse you will be cursed, you will be a source of blessing to others, and vehe-yei berakha: you will be, or should be, a blessing.” (Genesis 12:2,3) God’s words about blessing suggest not only the birth of a relationship with Abraham, but a new vision of humanity’s role in God’s world.

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T15:06:07-05:00October 31, 2022|

Parashat Noah 5783

Seasonal Changes: "Remembering" to be Merciful to Ourselves By Rabbi Mitchell Blank ('21) Living in southern New York, I love this time of year, especially the changing of the leaves. Our home backs upon acres of undeveloped woods. About 20 years ago, I built a 1.5 mile loop trail through the forest. The path took six months to complete; it was an embodied labor of love. Seasonal maintenance proved to be labor intensive as well. After more than a decade of clearing fallen branches, the trail was now also defined by at least 20 lbs. of wood stacked high for its entire length. The ongoing maintenance and care were daily sources of enjoyment and satisfaction. The boundaries of the path, tangible reminders of years of hard work, only heightened the love derived from walking it.

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T15:08:32-05:00October 24, 2022|

Parashat Bereisheet – 5783

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What Cain Learned
A D’var Torah for Parashat Beresheet
By Dr. Yakir Englander

In the Genesis story, we find Cain and Abel in a field. There the elder brother, Cain, kills Abel, the younger. Midrash Rabbah (22) on this passage remarks that Cain does not know how to take the life of another human person. So, he decides to imitate his brother, slaughtering him in the same way he had seen Abel himself slaughter animals as sacrificial offerings to God. When that same God questions Cain, after the murder, it is with either an utter innocence or with a calculated intent to cross-examine the killer: “Where is your brother Abel?” And Cain responds, without batting an eyelid: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9)

It is a disturbing passage. As a Jewish theologian, I have always felt that Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-23T12:31:32-05:00October 19, 2022|

Parashat Ha’azinu – 5783

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Ha’azinu
By Rabbi Matthew Goldstone

Our parasha this week begins with calling heaven and earth as witnesses (see Deut. 31:28) as Moses sings his final song to the people. The natural imagery continues as Moses compares his words to rain and dew, and refers to God as the Rock (צור). This past week many of us have had rains on our mind as Hurricane Ian ravaged portions of Florida. Within the biblical theology of our parasha, such natural disasters are understood as an expression of divine displeasure at our sinful actions (e.g., Deut. 32:18-24). For many modern inheritors of the Hebrew Bible, however, such a theology no longer resonates and can even be offensive – particularly when employed as a weapon by religious extremists. So what meaning can we draw from our parasha’s conception Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:51:29-05:00October 6, 2022|

Parashat Vayeilekh – 5782

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayeilekh
By Rabbi Matthew Goldstone

This past week thousands of Jews gathered in person and online to celebrate Rosh Hashanah. We now find ourselves in the midst of עשרת ימי תשובה, the 10 days of repentance leading up to Yom Kippur. Yet, even during this week between the Yamim Noraim we continue with our regular Torah reading cycle. This week of Shabbat Shuvah we read the short parashah of Vayeilekh in which Moses announces to the Israelites that he has reached 120 years of age and will no longer lead the Israelites forward.

At this time in our Jewish calendar of sacred gatherings, I would like to explore three instances in our parashah in which all of the Israelites gather together. At the very outset of the portion, Moses speaks to “all of Israel” and encourages them to be strong and resolute (חזקו ואמצו; Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:51:44-05:00September 29, 2022|

Parashat Nitzavim – 5782

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Nitzavim
By Rabbi Doug Alpert

Growing up I always looked forward to an excerpt in the Siddur on Shabbos morning immediately following Ein Keiloheinu toward the end of Musaf. It is taken from Talmud Bavli, Berakhot 64a, “Rabbi Eleazar said in the name of Rabbi Hanina: Students of Torah increase peace in the world…” (emphasis added). I am not sure what it was about this sugya of Talmud that I found so alluring; possibly that in conjunction with Ein Keiloheinu I found it to be a particularly affirming moment toward the end of a long morning of praying, or perhaps it was the mere fact that we were in the homestretch of our service, and Kiddush lunch was around the corner.

Whatever feelings elicited from the passage resonated for me in my youth, it has taken on even Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:51:56-05:00September 22, 2022|

Parashat Ki Tavo – 5782

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Ki Tavo
By Rabbi Jeffrey Segelman

Parashat Ki Tavo begins with two mitzvot which are declarations. The first is that of Bikkurim – the first fruits. This declaration is very familiar to us as it forms the basis of the Maggid section of the seder (Arami Oveid Avi… (Deut 26:5-10). The rabbis call this statement “mikra bikkurim” – “the declaration of the first fruits”.

The second declaration concerns the end of the three year cycle of tithes. In short, all the tithes of the cycle had to be properly distributed during three years. On the last day after each three year cycle, a declaration at the Temple was made. Here is that declaration:

I have removed the holy things (tithes) from my house, and I have also given it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan and to the Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:52:06-05:00September 15, 2022|

Parashat Ki Teitzei – 5782

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The Value Of Life
A D’var Torah for Parashat Ki Teitzei
By Rabbi Jill Hackell (’13)

This week’s parashah, Ki Teitzei, is filled with a wide variety of mitzvot. It contains, perhaps, the most laws of any other parashah in the Torah. I’d like to focus on two of them. The first is as follows:

“If you see your fellow’s ox or sheep gone astray, do not ignore it; you must take it back to your fellow. If your fellow does not live near you or you do not know who he is, you shall bring it home and it shall remain with you until your fellow claims it; then you shall return it to him. You shall do the same with his donkey; you shall do the same with his garment; and so too Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:52:21-05:00September 9, 2022|

Parashat Shofetim 5782

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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 Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:52:34-05:00September 1, 2022|

Parashat Re’eh 5782

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Re’eh
By Rabbi Enid Lader (’10)

Our Torah portion this week is Re’eh – Deut. 11:26-16:17. In chapter 15, Moses continues to speak to the people about what to expect as they come into the new land. “There shall be no needy among you – since the Eternal your God will bless you in the land that the Eternal your God is giving you as an inheritance – if only you will heed the Eternal your God and keep all this Instruction that I enjoin upon you this day.” (15:4-5) Here’s the thing… If you play by the rules, there will be plenty for all. That makes sense. We know that there certainly are ways we can treat each other and care for (and about) each other that Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:52:46-05:00August 25, 2022|

Parashat Eikev 5782

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Of Bread and Potential
A D’var Toraj for Parashat Eikev
By Rabbi Katy Allen (’05)

The grass dries out in the heat–

it’s brown now.

Flowering plants, and even shrubs,

are wilting,

their leaves dull and stiff,

the bright blue of the sky

day after day

broken only

by occasional fair-weather clouds,

as the temperatures soar

and relief doesn’t come.

Here in my yard,

the visible life and death question is

focused on plants,

and perhaps some pollinators

or creepy crawlers in the soil

(though the bunnies and woodchucks no longer graze outside my window,

and I’m wondering where and what they are munching instead).

Elsewhere, however,

earthlings

are dying.

Humans cannot live by bread alone, (Deuteronomy 8:3)

our Torah text tells us,

and some rabbis say this means

we actually can live on less–

although I find it impossible to imagine no need for water.

The text also says

that humans can live on anything the Lord decrees,

and thus the manna from heaven was Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:53:00-05:00August 18, 2022|

Parashat Va’ethanan 5782

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Studying Torah 101
A D’var Torah for Parashat Va’ethanan
By Rabbi Rob Scheinberg

I first began to study Talmud in 7th grade in the Jewish day school I attended as a child. Those first months of Talmud were intensely frustrating. The Talmud, as a work of law, is supposed to be logical. And much of the content of the Talmud is, in fact, a series of logical arguments about different rabbis’ statements on various matters in Jewish law. But there were also a number of statements in the Talmud that, to my classmates and to me, just didn’t seem to make any sense. These rabbinic statements purported to be logical but just didn’t seem logical to us. Being seventh graders, my classmates and I expressed this frustration in a typical seventh grade manner, opining “This is stupid,” or “This is a waste of time,” or in Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:53:11-05:00August 12, 2022|

Parashat Devarim 5782

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Do You Believe In Miracles?
A D’var Torah for Parashat Devarim
By Rabbi Marc Rudolph (’04)

In the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses assembles the Israelites on the plains of Moab, poised to enter the Land promised to our ancestors. In a series of three speeches, Moses recounts the history of the past forty years, reviews old laws and imparts new ones, exhorts the people to follow the commandments and castigates them for their failure to do so in the past. He recalls the miracles of the plagues in Egypt and the miracle of the splitting of the Red Sea. He reminds the Israelites how God cared for them in the wilderness, “as a man carries his son, all the way that you traveled until you came to this place” (Deuteronomy 1:31). God even personally guides the Jewish people on their Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:53:20-05:00August 5, 2022|

Parashat Mattot-Masei 5782

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Mattot-Masei

by Rabbi Doug Alpert

For some reason a good deal of my time both within and outside of Torah has lately focused on land and borders. This week’s double portion, Mattot-Masei provides us with the most extensive, but certainly not the only delineation of the borders for HaAretz-the land of Israel in our Written Torah.

This started for me back in Parashat Shelah-Lekha with the narrative regarding the twelve spies who scouted the land. Within my weekly clergy interfaith Torah study group the conversation shifted from the usual emphasis Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:53:41-05:00July 29, 2022|

Parashat Pinhas 5782

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Pinhas

by Rabbi Jeffrey Segelman

In Parashat Pinhas, the formal ceremony of leadership succession takes place. Upon being reminded (as if he needed to be reminded) that he would not enter the land, Moses calls upon God to appoint a new leader. By appealing to God as the “Elohei HaRuhot” – the God of all spirits – the rabbis explain that Moses wants to make sure that God understands that the new leader must be able to tolerate the different opinions and personalities of the people. (See Rashi to Numbers 27:16 Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:53:52-05:00July 22, 2022|

Parashat Balak 5782

In this week's D'var Torah, Rabbi Matthew Goldstone encourages us to see deeper meaning behind Bilaam’s blessings.

By Rabbi Matthew Goldstone, PhD|2022-07-29T11:41:57-04:00July 14, 2022|

Parashat Hukkat

In this week's D'var Torah, Rabbi Ariann Weitzman shows how Parashat Hukkat provides a recipe for communal care that is not a burden to individuals but is a shared obligation across the community.

By Rabbi Ariann Weitzman|2022-07-29T11:42:29-04:00July 8, 2022|

Parashat Hukkat 5782

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Hukkat
By Rabbi Ariann Weitzman (’11)

The most frustrating thing about cleaning is that things don’t stay clean and you’re going to have to do it all over again. The second most frustrating thing about cleaning is that it’s hard to do without winding up filthy yourself. This is exactly the paradox of the ritual of the red heifer. As we read at the beginning of parashat Hukkat, the only way to cleanse the ritual impurity attached to caring for or touching the dead is to bring impurity to a wide circle of others. In order to produce the “waters of lustration,” which are used to ritually purify those who have been in contact with the dead, a perfectly unblemished red heifer, who has never had the experience of being yoked, must be slaughtered and burned to Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:54:21-05:00July 8, 2022|

Parashat Korah 5782

When the Law is Unjust, We Break the Law
By Rabbi Lizz Goldstein (’16)

Last week, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, withdrawing the already paltry federal protections on abortion rights. Many states already had trigger laws in place and abortion access became unavailable to thousands of people overnight. Congress had 50 years to codify federal legislation to allow reproductive freedom throughout the country. A leak of the current Supreme Court decision broke out about six weeks ago, allowing time for the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. government, dominated by people who claim to support reproductive freedom and choice, to react before the decision was formally handed down. And yet, no preparations were made for this moment. Very few elected officials did anything to protect us, but so many were ready to wail and moan with us and ask for our votes and money as soon as the SCOTUS decision was Read More >

By Rabbi Lizz Goldstein|2022-11-09T11:28:52-05:00June 30, 2022|

Parashat Shelah 5782

In this week's D'var Torah, Rabbi Katy Allen says that Caleb and Joshua teach us not to catastrophize but to seek out the best and maintain a positive outlook even when the future feels fearful.

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:54:43-05:00June 24, 2022|

Parashat Beha’alotekha 5782

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Beha’alotekha
By Rabbi Enid Lader (’10)

On the day that the Mishkan [portable Tabernacle/Temple] was set up, the cloud covered the Mishkan, the Tent of the Pact; and in the evening it rested over the Mishkan in the likeness of fire until morning. It was always so: the cloud covered it, appearing as fire by night… At a command of the Eternal, the Israelites broke camp, and at a command of the Eternal, they made camp… (Numbers 9:15-16, 18)

In his commentary on this week’s Torah portion, Beha’alotekha, Netivot Shalom (Rabbi Shalom Noah Berezovsky, 1911-2000, better known as Netivot Shalom or The Slominer, after his book and the Hasidic sect he led) invites us to understand the building of the Mishkan on a personal level. When the Eternal said, “Let them make Me a sanctuary that I may Read More >

By Rabbi Enid C. Lader|2022-11-09T14:54:50-05:00June 17, 2022|

Parashat Naso 5782

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What’s Your “Work Work”?
A D’var Torah for Parashat Naso
By Rabbi Rob Scheinberg

The original sacred ritual space of the Jewish people, the Mishkan, was portable. Whenever the Israelites moved from place to place in the wilderness, the Mishkan would be disassembled and transported to its next location. The Levites were the ones in charge of its porterage, and the different families of the Levites each had different holy objects to carry whenever the Mishkan would travel with the people from place to place.

This is the context for one of the more unusual verses in the Torah, a verse in the beginning of the book of Numbers (Parashat Naso), that describes the Levites’ roles. After specifying that the Levites were to work from age 30 to age 50, the Torah (Numbers 4:47) divides the labors of the Levites into two categories, referred to Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:55:00-05:00June 10, 2022|

Parashat Bemidbar 5782

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The Torah is for Everyone
A D’var Torah for Parashat Bemidbar
By Rabbi Marc Rudolph (’04)

Before the Sinai Desert was returned to Egypt in the Peace Treaty of 1978, it was possible to take a bus directly from Tel Aviv to the tip of the Sinai Peninsula, Sharm el Sheik. I boarded that bus alone on my Spring Break of 1973 when I spent a year in Israel. I intended to camp out on the beach and snorkel on the reefs of the Red Sea off Sharm El Sheik. There were only a few of us on that bus, including a Bedouin man. We traveled for hours through seemingly interminable and vast expanses of wilderness. When we think of “wilderness” in North America, we imagine tracts of virgin forests with wild rivers flowing through them untouched by human hands. We think of nature “untamed” by humankind. Read More >

By Rabbi Marc Rudolph|2022-07-29T11:40:16-04:00June 3, 2022|

Parashat Behukotai 5782

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Behukotai
By Rabbi Doug Alpert (’12)

Amongst our many struggles in interpreting Torah and apprehending G-d’s will is in how we view theodicy – how we reconcile the evil that permeates our world vis-à-vis our G-d of mercy and compassion. Arguably a close cousin in this struggle is how we view G-d who metes out blessing and curse, reward and punishment as a response to our conduct. Central to this week’s Torah portion – Parashat Behukotai is how G-d rewards us with blessing for fealty to the Mitzvot and imposes curse or punishment for violating G-d’s statutes and commandments.

While I characterize this struggle as ours, this may really be my own struggle. I shared this struggle with my interfaith clergy Torah study group. We have been meeting most weeks for about seven or so years now. We study Parashat Hashavua, sharing Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:55:21-05:00May 27, 2022|

Parashat Behar 5782

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Behar
By Rabbi Matthew Goldstone

This week in Parashat Behar we learn about the laws of Shemitta, the sabbatical year. For six years we work the land and then in the seventh year the land is granted a Shabbat, a rest. Just as we are entitled to a rest on the seventh day of our week, so too the land deserves a period of rest to reset. But what exactly is our relationship to the land and our responsibility for allowing it to rest?

In Genesis God blesses the first humans with the imperative to conquer (וְכִבְשֻׁהָ) the earth and to subdue (רְדוּ) its creatures (Gen. 1:28). Yet, we are also told that humanity is brought to the Garden of Eden to work it and to guard it (Gen. 2:15). There Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:55:36-05:00May 20, 2022|

Parashat Emor 5782

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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 Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:55:45-05:00May 13, 2022|

Parashat Kedoshim 5782

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A Stumbling Block Before the Blind
A D’var Torah for Parashat Kedoshim
By Rabbi Jill Hackell (’13)

Parashat Kedoshim contains many laws that outline a path toward leading a holy life. Although some of these are mystifying (e.g. the laws of shatnez – a prohibition against wearing clothing made from a mixture of wool and linen), the preponderance of these laws deal with the way one treats our fellow human beings. “Love your fellow as yourself” [Leviticus 19:18] can be seen as a summary of all these laws. If we can picture ourselves in the place of our fellow and treat her as we would want to be treated, then we will be living as we are meant to live.

One law tells us, “You shall not insult the deaf or place a stumbling block before the blind” [ Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T15:01:28-05:00May 6, 2022|

Parashat Aharei Mot 5782

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Aharei Mot
By Rabbi Michael Rothbaum (’06)

In an instantly-classic scene from Fiddler, Tevye the dairyman comes to an agreement to marry off his daughter Tzeitl to the butcher Lazar Wolf. The two men celebrate by singing the rousing anthem L’Hayim — “To Life!” The lyrics report that:

Life has a way of confusing us,
Blessing and bruising us.
Drink, l’chaim, to life!

This modern Jewish sacred text reflects an elemental hasidishe teaching — namely, that that even when the material conditions of existence are meager, we raise up the sparks of holiness that surround us. Even in the most difficult of circumstances, we can lift a glass of shnapps “to life.”

The toast l’hayim stretches much farther back than Sheldon Harnick’s lyrics, of course, no matter how much we revere them. Some scholars trace the custom all the way back to Talmudic times, as illustrated in this text Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T15:01:18-05:00April 29, 2022|

D’var Torah – Shabbat Shemini d’Pesah 5782

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A D’var Torah for Shabbat, the seventh day of Pesah
By Rabbi Cantor Sam Levine (’19)

One of the key passages of the Passover Haggadah comes at the end of the maggid section: b’khol dor vador hayyav adam lir’ot et atzmo ke’ilu hu yatza miMitzrayim – “In every generation, a person is obligated to see themselves as though they personally had come out of Egypt…” This is a call to memory – to a national memory that has, to a large degree, been constructed for us. We are enjoined to “regard ourselves” as though we had personally come out of Egypt based on the information that we have been given, or at least based on a version of the story that has been passed down to us.

We are the people of memory. The Hebrew root z-kh-r (meaning “memory” or “remembering”) appears 228 times in the Hebrew Bible, and the Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T15:00:57-05:00April 22, 2022|

D’var Torah – First Day of Passover 5782

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A D’var Torah for the First Day of Passover
By Rabbi Marc Rudolph (’04)

This Friday marks the beginning of Passover. I am certain that most of us will be keenly aware that this seder will be the third time we hold our Seders since the Pandemic. The Pandemic has taken a very heavy toll on us all. Over the past two years, 4 in 10 adults have reported symptoms of depression and/or anxiety, up from one in ten before the Pandemic. There has been an increase in the number of people reporting difficulty sleeping, focusing, working, and learning. Consumption of alcohol and other drugs as well as overeating has increased. There has been an overall worsening of chronic medical conditions due to the worry and stress of the coronavirus and the social isolation as a result of it.

Therefore, I was intrigued when I came Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T15:00:46-05:00April 13, 2022|

Parashat Metzora – Shabbat Hagadol 5782

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Turning Our Hearts Towards Each Other at the Seder
A D’var Torah for Parashat Metzora – Shabbat Hagadol
By Rabbi Robert Scheinberg

Why is the Shabbat before Passover called Shabbat HaGadol – the “great Sabbath”? One of the best known explanations is presented by the Levush (OH 430:1), among other sources: It refers to the concluding lines from the Haftarah designated for Shabbat Hagadol, taken from the conclusion of the book of Malachi: “Lo, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the coming of the awesome [Hebrew: hagadol], fearful day of Adonai. He [Elijah] shall turn the hearts of parents toward children, and the hearts of children toward parents….” (3:23-24)

The prophet Malachi uses the word hagadol, “great” or “awesome,” to Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T15:00:31-05:00April 8, 2022|

Parashat Tazria – Shabbat Hahodesh 5782

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Tazria – Shabbat Hahodesh
By Rabbi Doug Alpert (’12)

I watched with great interest the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings this past week regarding Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to be an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. This interest is not generated solely by my background and interest in law, nor is my concern limited to the state of our country and the on-going challenges to our democracy. As Jews we (and I) are keenly aware of the importance of Halakhah; how our rule of law and a system of justly administered laws contributes to our sense of community and Jewish unity. As Jews we also know that we have thrived when governed by democratically principled governments and we have painful memories of being targets of persecution under authoritarian regimes.

My interest in the hearings for Judge Brown Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T15:00:18-05:00April 1, 2022|

Parashat Shemini 5782

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Three Lessons in Spiritual Leadership
A D’var Torah for Parashat Shemini
By Rabbi Jeffrey Segelman

Parashat Shemini establishes Aaron as the Kohein Gadol, the spiritual leader of the Jewish people. From Aaron we might learn positive lessons about how we grow as spiritual leaders. The parasha also tells a story of Moses from which we might also learn a lesson of spiritual leadership – albeit a negative one. And then there is the lesson of spiritual leadership which we learn from the pig.

Moses said to Aaron, “Come near to the altar and perform your service…” (Lev. 9:7) Rashi points out that Moses had to tell Aaron to ‘come near’ because Aaron was reluctant, embarrassed. He still had the image of the Golden Calf and his role in that scene. He felt unworthy. Yet Moses encouraged his brother, telling him that this spiritual leadership Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:59:52-05:00March 24, 2022|

Parashat Tzav 5782

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Tzav
By Rabbi Ariann Weitzman (’11)

This week’s parasha begins with a command to offer an olah, a burnt offering. The olah was not offered to expiate guilt or express thanksgiving. No explanation is given for it, and unlike other sacrifices, no part of the olah was kept to feed the priests or the family who offered it.

According to Leviticus Rabbah 7:3, ain ha’olah ba’ah ela al hirhur halev, the olah is only brought because of the doubts of the heart. Perhaps those doubts arise from a sense that we may have sinned and do not know it. Or perhaps, we have failed to express thanks and must rectify the omission.

Or, alternatively, as I learned from my teacher, Rabbi Jill Hammer, the olah is offered as a result of personal fear, and the sacrifice is an effort to strengthen one’s relationship with God, to form Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:59:40-05:00March 17, 2022|

Parashat Vayikra 5782

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The Covenant of Salt, the Salt of Your Covenant
A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayikra
By Rabbi Katy Allen (’05)

וְכׇל־קׇרְבַּ֣ן מִנְחָתְךָ֮ בַּמֶּ֣לַח תִּמְלָח֒ וְלֹ֣א תַשְׁבִּ֗ית מֶ֚לַח בְּרִ֣ית אֱ-לֹהֶ֔יךָ מֵעַ֖ל מִנְחָתֶ֑ךָ עַ֥ל כׇּל־קׇרְבָּנְךָ֖ תַּקְרִ֥יב מֶֽלַח:

You shall season your every offering of meal with salt; you shall not omit from your meal offering the salt of your covenant with G!d; with all your offerings you must offer salt. —Leviticus 2:13

Waves—
lapping gently against warm sand,
crashing ferociously against rocky crags,
mixing with sweet water in sheltered estuaries,
cresting endlessly across vast open oceans—
a constant reminder
of the everlasting brit melah, covenant of salt. (Num. 18:19)

Ancient is this covenant,
from Creation, (Rashi Lev. 2:13)
when G!d decreed that salt would be offered on the altar
with the sacrifices—
salt,
derived from the sea,
perhaps to enhance the taste,
perhaps Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:59:29-05:00March 10, 2022|

Parashat Pekudei 5782

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Making Space
A D’var Torah for Parashat Pekudei
By Rabbi Lizz Goldstein (’16)

Some weeks feel like there is just so much ungodliness in the world; it’s hard to know where to even begin shining the light of Torah. I believe in the power of Torah, of the Divine, of our spiritual connections, to help clear away the shadows of sadness and fear, but sometimes there are just too many shadows to get all of them, and I just feel overwhelmed.

In this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Pekudei, our scripture may not directly address the horrors of war in Europe, refugees traversing continents, impending climate disaster, changes to public health recommendations that will surely continue to drag out the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, nor the regressive laws across the country right now attacking the bodily autonomy of people with uteruses and the rights of Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:59:21-05:00March 3, 2022|

Parashat Vayakhel – Shabbat Shekalim 5782

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Generosity and Commitment
A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayakhel
By Rabbi Enid Lader (’10)

Voluntary gifts from every quarter of the Israelite population formed the material out of which the Mishkan and its sacred vessels and priestly clothing were crafted and built. There was no imposed special tax for this purpose, but merely the request for voluntary individual contributions: “Take from among you gifts to the Eternal; everyone whose heart so moves him shall bring them—gifts for the Eternal…” (Exodus 35:5).

And bring they did, with such exuberance and generosity that those in charge of the project begged Moses to end the campaign: “The people are bringing more than is needed for the tasks entailed in the work that the Eternal has commanded to be done” (Exodus 36:5).

Thus, we have the first building campaign that Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:58:58-05:00February 24, 2022|

Parashat Ki Tissa 5782

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Do You Resolve Conflicts Aaron’s Way or Moses’ Way?
A D’var Torah for Parashat Ki Tissa
By Rabbi Rob Scheinberg

What’s the best way to get two people in a conflict to be reconciled with each other?

Avot De-Rabbi Natan – an early commentary to the Ethics of the Fathers (Pirkei Avot) – imagines the conflict resolution strategy employed by Moses’ brother Aaron. When Aaron would see two people in conflict, he would go to one of them and say, “Your friend has just come crying to me, saying ‘Woe is me, that I have offended my friend! Aaron, please go and request forgiveness on my behalf!’” Aaron would sit with him until his anger subsided, and then Aaron would go to the other friend and say exactly the same thing. When the two friends would see each other, they would hug each other, and their conflict would Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:58:35-05:00February 17, 2022|

Parashat Tetzaveh 5782

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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. Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:58:25-05:00February 10, 2022|

Parashat Terumah 5782

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Terumah
By Rabbi Doug Alpert (’12)

My original D’var Torah which I wrote on Sunday afternoon appears below. However, on Sunday evening many in our AJR community gathered (via Zoom) to share memories of our teacher, Rabbi Yitzchak Mann z”l. Dr. Ora Horn Prouser as our teacher and Academic Dean shared a D’var Torah which, like my D’var Torah referenced the poles of the Ark contained within the Mishkan – our Holy Tabernacle. With that experience I would feel remiss if I did not dedicate this D’var Torah to the memory of Rabbi Mann. As it was said on Sunday evening, Rabbi Mann was not only an extraordinary teacher of Torah, but someone who through his gentle and generous spirit lived Torah.

So how did I draw the short straw. In its droning on and on with instructions for building the Mishkan Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:58:15-05:00February 4, 2022|

Parashat Mishpatim 5782

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A D’var Torah For Parashat Mishpatim
By Rabbi Jeffrey Segelman

Parashat Mishpatim includes the mitzvot pertaining to one who is responsible for guarding something owned by another. Similarly, it speaks of the responsibility of one who borrows something from another (Exodus 22:9-14). Without going into detail, the Torah points to the difference in obligation depending upon whether the “shomeir,” the one who is watching the item, has been paid for his efforts or not. It also depends on the degree of reasonable concern and/or negligence that the person demonstrated. Obviously, these laws have great application in the lives of people who wish to live together in peace.

There may also be great spiritual significance to this idea. But in order to discuss it, let us first digress.

A few weeks ago, when we read the conclusion of Shirat HaYam, we listened as Moses and Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:58:05-05:00January 27, 2022|

Parashat Yitro 5782

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Yitro
By Rabbi Matthew Goldstone

This week the American Jewish community finds itself processing the events of last Shabbat, during which a rabbi and three congregants were taken hostage in Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas. As a minority in the United States, many are reflecting on the dangers of being Jewish in this moment. Our parasha this week mentions the names of Moshe’s sons, the meanings of which echo sentiments some of us may be feeling: Gershom, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land,” and Eliezer, “The God of my father was my help, and God delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh” (Exod. 18:3-4). In some ways, despite having been a presence in North America for hundreds of years, we are still strangers, those who are misunderstood Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:57:56-05:00January 21, 2022|

Parashat Beshalah – 5782

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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 Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:57:45-05:00January 14, 2022|

Parashat Bo -5782

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Bo
By Rabbi Michael Rothbaum (’06)There’s a well-known rabbinic discussion in the beginning of the Torah about the book of Genesis. The question is asked: why start there, when the mitzvot, the sacred obligations of the Jewish people, don’t appear until Exodus?

The conversations around that question are fascinating. (See, for instance, Rashi’s discussion here). But it’s in this week’s reading, Parashat Bo, that those mitzvot show up — primarily among them, the first Passover meal. In that elemental mitzvah, we see a template for all mitzvot to come.

First, some context. The first Pesah lands in between miracles. The Israelites have just witnessed nine plagues, as the once-great Egyptian empire has been brought low. Though they don’t know it yet, they are about to experience redemption at the Red Sea. For now, Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:57:37-05:00January 7, 2022|

Parashat Va’eira 5782

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Va’eira
By Rabbi Cantor Sam Levine (’19)

(I am indebted to the invaluable resource AlHatorah.org for directing me to many of the sources cited below.)

Last week, we read in Parashat Shemot Moshe’s demurral at God’s choosing him for the role of liberator. Moshe says לֹא֩ אִ֨ישׁ דְּבָרִ֜ים אָנֹ֗כִי – I am not a man of words (4:10). He then goes on to say in the same verse כִּ֧י כְבַד־פֶּ֛ה וּכְבַ֥ד לָשׁ֖וֹן אָנֹֽכִי – for I am heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue. No further explanation is given, but (the reader is meant to understand) Moshe has diagnosed for himself some inability to communicate God’s message to anyone, least of all a mighty king like Pharaoh. Moshe expresses a similar idea in this week’s parasha. Twice, in 6:12 and Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:57:27-05:00December 31, 2021|

Parashat Shemot 5782

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Leaving the Palace
A D’var Torah for Parashat Shemot
By Rabbi Rob Scheinberg

This story sounds familiar, I thought.

Sitting in a college religion course, my professor began to describe the early life of a most significant religious leader in world history, someone who was effectively the founder of one of the world’s major religions.

The story began with this future religious leader growing up in a palace and living a life of spectacular material comforts. As a member of the king’s family, he has plenty of whatever he wants, and he is unaware of any suffering or poverty that exists outside the palace’s walls. In fact, the king does his best to insulate him from witnessing any pain, injustice or suffering.

One day, this future religious leader ventures out of the palace walls, and what he sees there challenges him deeply and changes him forever. He Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:57:09-05:00December 24, 2021|

Parashat Vayehi 5782

A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayehi
By Rabbi Marc Rudolph (’04)

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In Act ll of Richard the Second, Shakespeare tells us that:

The tongues of dying men

Enforce attention like deep harmony:

Where words are scarce, they are seldom spent in vain,

For they breathe truth/ that breathe their words in pain.

This week’s parasha recounts the dying words of Yaakov avinu. As you recall, Jacob has brought his entire family to Egypt and for seventeen years has been reunited with his beloved son Joseph. The parasha opens with Jacob summoning his children to his bedside. With his last words Jacob rebukes some of his sons, prays for others, gives blessings to some, recalls memories, shares psychological insights, delivers warnings and imparts hope. After blessing his youngest son, Benjamin, Jacob speaks no more. The Torah tells us that he gathers his feet into his Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:56:58-05:00December 17, 2021|

Parashat Vayigash 5782

A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayigash
By Rabbi Doug Alpert (’12)

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With this week’s Parashah we are neck-deep into the Joseph story. A prominent focus of the narrative has been, and continues to be, on Joseph’s relationship with his brothers. Was Joseph seeking revenge on his brothers by withholding his identity, fulfilling a Divine purpose set forth from his youth and/or simply following a series of dreams (his and others) as he interprets those dreams? Can the idea of dreams in Joseph’s case be a stand-in for ambition? All good questions for discussion, but I am drawn in more to how Joseph acts as leader and administrator.

In this week’s Parasha Joseph acts upon his interpretation of Pharoah’s dream predicting the famine to come. His administrative and problem solving acumen in devising a national plan to provide food during the famine leads him to a position of power in Egypt. He is second Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:56:47-05:00December 9, 2021|

Parashat Mikeitz 5782

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Mikeitz
By Rabbi Jeffrey Segelman

This Shabbat is a three Torah Shabbat. We will read the weekly parasha of Mikeitz, then the reading for Rosh Hodesh and then for Hanukkah. Though it may be a stretch, let’s see if we can weave together the common themes of these three.

The story of Hanukkah is captured in the conflict between Hellenists, those Jews who embraced much of Greek culture (sometimes to the exclusion of core Jewish rituals and values) and those Jews who saw Greek culture as the defilement of Torah and the holy Jewish way of life. Obviously the Greeks themselves fought on the side of the Hellenists, which made the Hasmonean victory nothing short of miraculous.

Parashat Mikeitz tells the story of the rise of Joseph from prison to become the viceroy of Egypt. At Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:56:33-05:00December 3, 2021|

Parashat Vayeishev 5782

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayeishev
By Rabbi Ariann Weitzman (’11)

The story of Tamar is sandwiched between two momentous scenes in the Joseph saga:

The first scene: Joseph dreams some dreams, whose interpretation infuriates his jealous brothers, who sell him to Egyptian slavers. The second scene: Joseph lands in the house of Potiphar, where he is harassed by Potiphar’s wife, resists her advances, and is then thrown into jail based on her lies. In jail, he interprets dreams of Pharaoh’s servants.

In the middle we have Tamar. Around the time that Joseph is sold into slavery, Judah, Jacob’s fourth son, has settled himself as a shepherd of his own flocks in Canaan. He has three sons, and marries off his first son, Er, to a local Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:56:24-05:00November 26, 2021|

Parashat Vayishlah 5782

Bless People by Their Names
A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayishlah
By Rabbi Lizz Goldstein (’16)

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This week is Transgender Awareness Week, an opportunity for trans folks to celebrate themselves and for allies to educate themselves and uplift the voices of the too often silenced queer community. The week culminates in the observance of Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20th. Transgender people, especially trans women of color, are disproportionately affected by hate violence, ranging from harassment to murder; according to the Human Rights Campaign, at least 45 trans people have been killed through violent means in 2021. Additionally, trans people are more likely than cisgender people to express suicidal ideation or to actually commit suicide. All this leads to the necessity of a Transgender Day of Remembrance to hold vigils for those lost due to the Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:56:15-05:00November 19, 2021|

Parashat Vayeitzei 5782

A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayeitzei
By Rabbi Katy Allen (’05)

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Once long ago and far away there lived a wise Queen who ruled a small but thriving territory. The Queen had three daughters. As each daughter came of age, the Queen gave her 10 pieces of gold and admonished her to use them both wisely and compassionately. The oldest daughter gave one piece of gold to help feed and clothe the poor and hungry, and the Queen was pleased by this. The second daughter gave two pieces of gold to help feed and clothe the poor and hungry, and the Queen was much pleased by this. The third daughter gave three – and some say she gave all 10 – pieces of gold to help feed and clothe the poor and hungry, and the Queen was not pleased.

The origins of this Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:56:07-05:00November 12, 2021|

Parashat Toledot 5782

Our Torah portion opens with the words ‘Ele toledot (Gen. 25:19) – variously translated as “These are the generations/records/lineage/descendants/begettings of…”; basically, carrying us into the next generation, and, in the case of this week’s portion, continuing the story of Isaac and Rebecca. However, with the announcement of a barren wife (Gen. 25:21), the next generation is put in jeopardy. Ultimately, they will have children, but in looking back, what might they have shared with each other? I was walking in the field in the late afternoon; I was riding on a camel… I looked up and saw her from afar; I fell off my camel… and put on my veil… I heard about her generosity and strength; He brought me into the tent that had been his mother’s… I loved her; I loved him… In my loss she brought me comfort; I had left my home and found comfort in his arms… Almost twenty years later and no children; For almost twenty years we tried and tried… I cannot think of being with anyone else; No handmaid, no second wife, no surrogate for us… I appealed to God – for my wife is barren; I was right by his side – and in time, my own appeal: Oy! What did I ask for?

By Rabbi Enid C. Lader|2022-07-29T11:24:16-04:00November 5, 2021|

Parashat Hayei Sarah

The Torah portion of Hayei Sarah begins with tragedy. Abraham, dwelling in Beer Sheva, learns that his wife Sarah has died in the city of Hebron, a day’s journey away. He arrives to Sarah’s side “to cry for her and to eulogize her.” (v. 2) But for those who are familiar with traditional Jewish practices regarding care for the deceased, the next sentence makes this tragedy in Abraham’s life even more devastating: “And Abraham arose from the presence of his dead…” (v. 3) Without burial plans already made for his wife, Abraham is forced – in the depth of his grief – to initiate a real estate transaction with his neighbors, the Hittites. The remainder of Genesis Chapter 23 describes these negotiations in exacting detail, perhaps in order to highlight how emotionally challenging this process was for Abraham in his vulnerable state.

By Linda Ripps|2022-07-29T11:24:16-04:00October 28, 2021|

Parashat Vayeira 5782

This past Sunday I visited our third grade class. One of the students asked me a question – How many letters are there in a Torah? In rabbinic school we learn that although we “Rabbis to be” will not be able to answer every question put to us, we will be able to know where to go and look for the answer to any question we cannot answer immediately. I immediately knew exactly where to go to answer this question. As the students looked on, I whipped out my cell phone and googled it! There were, I told the students, 304,805 letters in the Torah. In addition, there were 79,847 words in a Torah scroll. In fact, the Talmud tells us that the early Sages were called “soferim”, or “counters” because, so dear was the Torah to them, that they counted every letter and word. To this day, a person who writes a Torah is called a “sofer” – a counter – and not a “kotev” or writer.

By Rabbi Marc Rudolph|2022-07-29T11:24:16-04:00October 22, 2021|

Parashat Lekh Lekha 5782

I find myself still catching my breath post Haggim. Taking the process of engaging in Heshbon HaNefesh – an accounting of our behavior – and transforming it into self-improvement in the new year – 5782. For me a question exists of whether it is helpful and productive to establish a high bar of behavior for ourselves; one that we ultimately cannot maintain. In this week’s Parashah, Sarah (still referred to as Sarai at this point), due to her inability to bear children, requests that Avraham (a.k.a Avram) take Hagar as his wife; literally that she gave Hagar to Avraham her husband to be his wife. (Genesis 16:2-3) Notwithstanding the many ways in which this story understandably violates our sensibilities, e.g., the bigamy and misogyny, there is a lesson to be gleaned in how Sarah performs this selfless act. Nehama Leibowitz describes it as an act of supreme sacrifice. (Nehama Leibowitz, New Studies in Bereishit-Genesis, at p. 154) After all, Sarah could have asked Avraham to take Hagar as a concubine and not given her the status of wife. (I know, oy!)

By Doug Alpert|2022-07-29T11:24:16-04:00October 15, 2021|

Parashat Noah 5782

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Two Understandings of Leadership – A Tightrope We All Walk
A D’var Torah for Parashat Noah
By Rabbi Jeffrey Segelman

Every time I write or speak about parshat Noah, I am determined to get past the first verse and find a d’var Torah somewhere in the remaining 152 verses. Sometimes I am successful. Today, not so much. I apologize for the focus on the very famous midrash which many of you know well. But hopefully, I will be able to frame it differently and expand on it just a bit.

The first verse of the parsha reads: “These are the generations of Noah, Noah was ‘tzaddik tamim’ in his generation” (Gen. 6:9). Of course, the words that raise the red flag are ‘in his generation.’

To quote Rashi, “There are those among the Rabbis who expound these words as praise, that is, if Noah could be a tzaddik Read More >

By Rabbi Jeffrey Segelman|2022-07-29T11:24:17-04:00October 8, 2021|

Parashat Bereisheet 5782

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Bereisheet
By Rabbi Matthew Goldstone

As we once again begin our annual reading of the Torah, we anticipate the many rich stories that pervade the first book of the Bible. The narratives remain the same year after year, despite our hopes that perhaps this time our ancestors might not make the same mistakes that they did in the last Torah reading cycle. The first mistake that we encounter is of course the decision to eat from the forbidden fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden. The snake encourages Havah (a.k.a Eve) to have a taste and that fateful choice ultimately leads to the expulsion of humanity from that prehistoric paradise.

Narrowing in on the dialogue between the snake and Havah, we find that the primordial mother of humanity does not articulate the prohibition as God initially instructed. Read More >

By Rabbi Matthew Goldstone, PhD|2022-07-29T11:24:17-04:00October 1, 2021|

Parashat Ha’azinu

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In the Aftermath of Yom Kippur
A D’var Torah for Parashat Ha’azinu
By Rabbi Jeffrey Segelman

The poem/song of Ha’azinu begins with a grammatical problem. The first verb in the opening verse – ha’azinu, listen – is in the imperative form. However, the second verb – tishma, hear – is in the simple form. Moses demands that the heavens “listen” and then lets us know that the earth “will hear.”

This inconsistency captured the attention of the Or HaHayyim (Rabbi Chayim ben Attar). After addressing this problem on the level of peshat, he continues from the perspective of derash: “Moses addressed the two components of which a person is made, the spiritual and the physical. The ‘heavens’ represent the spiritual dimension and ‘the earth’ represents the physical/material.” In other words, Moses was speaking to the soul and to the body. The grammar points to a very important and very instructive Read More >

By Rabbi Jeffrey Segelman|2022-07-29T11:24:17-04:00September 17, 2021|

Parashat Vayeilekh 5782

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayeilekh
By Rabbi Matthew Goldstone

Shanah tovah! As we transition into a new Jewish year we also near the completion of our annual reading of the Torah and prepare to begin the cycle again. This week, at the beginning of parashat Vayeilekh, Moses speaks briefly to the Israelites before turning his attention to Joshua. With Joshua poised to take the helm, Moses offers him a few words of wisdom before he leads the people into the promised land. I would suggest that the beginning of our parasha not only offers sagacious advice for Joshua and the Israelites, but also provides important guidance and reminders for contemporary Jewish leaders. I would like to highlight three lessons that emerge as we look closely at the beginning of Deuteronomy 31.

First, the very name of our parasha evokes movement Read More >

By Rabbi Matthew Goldstone, PhD|2022-07-29T11:24:17-04:00September 10, 2021|

Parashat Nitzavim 5781

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The Covenant is for Everyone
A D’var Torah for Parashat Nitzavim
By Rabbi Lizz Goldstein (’16)

This weekend, I was blessed to officiate over a Baby Naming. Like the other two baby namings I have done this year, this is a baby born at the beginning of the pandemic when parents were very reluctant to plan any kind of celebration. As much as March through May 2020 were a particularly terrifying and isolating time for all of us, I can only imagine how much more so that was true for parents of a newborn. And so, it is with so much joy and relief that we gather this weekend, even among rising concerns of the Delta variant and the possibility of returning to online High Holy Day services, to finally officially welcome this now-toddler into the Jewish community with a Hebrew name Read More >

By Rabbi Lizz Goldstein|2022-07-29T11:24:17-04:00September 3, 2021|

Parashat Ki Tavo 5781

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Ki Tavo
By Rabbi Ariann Weitzman (’11)Many of us spend an incredible amount of time figuring out how to make someone else listen, whether it’s to our instructions, our needs, our anxieties, or just our day-to-day thoughts and feelings. Listening seems like it’s in short supply. Wanting to be heard, however, is abundant. Moses was no stranger to this phenomenon. His speeches make up the bulk of the book of Deuteronomy. And his repeated command, “Listen!” peppers these speeches.

In this week’s parashah, Ki Tavo, Moses elevates the pitch of his final speech, detailing a dramatic series of blessings and curses that will be spoken to the people by the priests once they enter the land of Canaan, as the people stand up on two opposing hilltops. If his words aren’t enough to make them hear, Read More >

By Rabbi Ariann Weitzman|2022-07-29T11:24:17-04:00August 26, 2021|

Parashat Ki Teitzei 5781

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Ki Teitzei
By Rabbi Doug Alpert (’12)

Entering the month of Elul – a time for great introspection and personal reflection leading up to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, I, and at the risk of being presumptuous, we, are experiencing a time of unprecedented turmoil. In my own congregation the resurgence of the COVID 19 pandemic via the Delta variant has been an emotional setback as we have been so looking forward to being back in physical space together. Wearing masks and putting hugging on the back burner leaves us detached from our need for connecting in community.

Polarization and animosity are pervasive surrounding the proper response to the pandemic. This notwithstanding that in our Jewish world Pikuah Nefesh – sanctity of human life – should dictate the seemingly obvious response that we take every measure possible to save human Read More >

By Doug Alpert|2022-07-29T11:24:17-04:00August 20, 2021|

Parashat Shoftim 5781

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Shoftim
By Rabbi Jill Hackell (’13)

I’ve been studying a lot lately about trees. Dr. Suzanne Simard has spearheaded research showing that the trees of the forest communicate with each other through an elaborate system of fungi attached to their roots, which has been dubbed the “Wood-Wide Web”. Through it, trees of the same and different species can warn each other of danger, share resources back and forth according to need and circumstance, and bequeath carbon to their neighbors when they are dying. This understanding could change the way we harvest and replant forests for lumber, to maximize preservation of these networks.[1]

Our parashah this week also shows concern for trees:

“When in your war against a city you have to besiege it a long time in order to capture it, you must not destroy its trees, wielding the ax Read More >

By Rabbi Jill Hackell M.D.|2022-07-29T11:24:18-04:00August 13, 2021|

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