Parashat Vaethanan and Shabbat Nahamu – 5786

The Cadence of Comfort: Moving from Desolation to Consolation

A D’var Torah for Parashat Vaethanan and Shabbat Nahamu

By Rabbi Scott “Shalom” Klein

July 20, 2026

This Shabbat, we transition from the depths of communal mourning into a period of profound renewal. We read Parashat Vaethanan, which always coincides with Shabbat Nahamu—the Shabbat of Comfort—named after the opening words of the Haftarah: “Nahamu, nahamu ami“—”Comfort, comfort My people.” This deliberate shift from the brokenness of Tisha B’Av to the embrace of consolation offers a timeless lesson in leadership and resilience. It reminds us that recovery is not an automatic passage of time; it requires an intentional architecture of the spirit.

In the opening of the parashah, Moshe pleads with God: “Vaethanan el Hashem“—”And I implored the Lord.” Moshe begs to cross the Jordan River to see the Land of Israel, yet God firmly denies his request, telling him, “It is enough for you; speak no more to Read More >

Parashat Vaethanan and Shabbat Nahamu – 5786Marisa Amith2026-07-13T11:30:18-04:00

Parashat Devarim – 5786

A D’var Torah for Parashat Devarim

By Rabbi Dr. Matthew Goldstone

July 13, 2026

“These are the words that Moses addressed to all Israel” (Deut. 1:1). The final book of the Torah begins by emphasizing that what follows (“these”) are the words of Moses to the people of Israel. But Moses says many things to the Israelites, what makes these words different and worthy of note? The Midrash in Sifrei Devarim answers this question by suggesting that Moses’s words at the beginning of Deuteronomy are specifically words of rebuke. This theme is echoed in the haftarah for this week from the beginning of Isaiah in which the prophet channels God’s chastisement of the people for their wrongdoing.

Rebuke can easily provoke anger and other negative feelings. A midrash in Sifra (on the Book of Leviticus) recognizes the way in which rebuke can be tied up with hatred, cursing, hitting, and slapping. Such charged Read More >

Parashat Devarim – 5786Marisa Amith2026-07-13T11:19:04-04:00

Parshiyot Mattot-Mase 5786

Looking Back on the Journey

A D’var Torah for Parshiyot Mattot-Masei

By Cantor Sandy Horowitz

Parashat Masei, the final reading in the book of Numbers, begins with these words:

אֵלֶּה מַסְעֵי בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר יָצְאוּ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם…

“These are the journeys of the people of Israel who set out from the land of Egypt… (Numbers 33:1)

The text then goes on to name each of the forty-two places where the Israelites stopped during their forty-year journey, up until they arrived at the river Jordan across from Jericho. There is a pattern in the way the journey is described: each stopping place has its own verse, and each journey from one place to the next is described using the same verbs, vayis’u (“and they set out [from]”) and vayahanu (“and they encamped… [at]”). The cantillation of this part of the text enhances the experience of repetition: while there are exceptions, most of the occurrences of vayis’u and its place Read More >

Parshiyot Mattot-Mase 5786Marisa Amith2026-07-07T07:53:36-04:00

Parashat Pinhas – 5786

Pinhas in Process

A D’var Torah for Parashat Pinhas

By Rabba Kaya Stern-Kaufman (2011)

This week we are reading a section of Torah named for Pinhas, the grandson of Aaron, who was a zealot for God. His story begins in the previous week’s Torah portion when many of the Israelite men become caught up in sexual relationships with the local Moabite women who enjoined them to worship Baal Peor, a local deity. In response, God sends a plague and thousands of Israelites die. Once again, things are not going well for either God or the Israelites. The Israelites’ fidelity to God is consistently weak and wavering and God responds with consistent wrath and destruction.

In the midst of this chaos, an Israelite man and a Midianite woman begin to have sexual relations in front of the Tent of Meeting. This is the place where Moshe communicates with God; a Read More >

Parashat Pinhas – 5786Marisa Amith2026-06-29T13:46:58-04:00

Parshiyot Hukkat-Balak – 5786

A D’var Torah for Parshiyot Hukkat-Balak

By Rabbi Wendy Love Anderson (2023)

The Strangest Mitzvah

What do you think is the strangest commandment in the entire Torah? There’s some pretty stiff competition. Is it the prohibition on combining wool and linen? The insistence that it’s fine to eat cows and goats but not pigs? The sandal and spitting ritual that accompanies a brother’s refusal to marry his widowed sister-in-law? The prohibition against rounding the corners of one’s beard? While some commandments are morally challenging, others are intellectually puzzling, making them difficult to explain, much less defend against criticism.

Parashat Hukkat opens with a novel Israelite ritual: in order to prepare a special liquid that will be used to ritually purify individuals contaminated by contact with a human corpse, an unblemished red heifer must be slaughtered outside the camp and (after some priestly blood-sprinkling) completely burnt, together with cedar, hyssop, and crimson dye. Although this ritual was unique, many of its component parts Read More >

Parshiyot Hukkat-Balak – 5786Marisa Amith2026-06-25T13:12:14-04:00

Parashat Hukkat – 5786

In this week’s D’var Torah, Rabbi Wendy Love Anderson offers a rationale, not for the puzzling ritual of the red heifer, but for why we should keep asking about it

Parashat Hukkat – 5786Linda Ripps2026-06-25T11:47:59-04:00

Parashat Korah – 5786

A D’var Torah for Parashat Korah

By Rabbi Dorit Edut (AJR 2006)

“Jewish tradition cherishes free speech. ‘When a person refrains from speech, the ideas die, the soul stops, and the senses deteriorate,’ said Moses ibn Ezra, insisting on respect for honest differences of opinion. (Shirat Yisrael, 12c). If one reads the classic texts of the rabbinic era, the Mishnah and the Gemara, every page brims with the arguments both of the majority and of those who dissented from them, recognizing that each reflected aspects of God’s truth. ‘These and these are the words of God,’ the Talmud observes about these disputes (Eruvin 13b).”[1]

Yet while Jewish law encourages robust debate and respectful dialogue, it strictly prohibits malicious speech, such as gossip, public shaming, and slander. The strongest moral disapproval is expressed in Jewish teachings of slander in all its forms. The prohibition against going around as a talebearer is stated in Read More >

Parashat Korah – 5786Marisa Amith2026-06-16T11:18:51-04:00

Parashat Shelah – 5786

Remembering as an Act of Imagination

A D’var Torah for Parashat Shelah

By Rabbi Dr. Rachel Posner

This week I met with my psychotherapy client, Melanie (not her real name), who is preparing to give birth for the first time. At her recent baby shower, friends and relatives could not resist sharing their own birth stories. Each woman hoped to help prepare Melanie for what lay ahead. Instead, their stories multiplied her anxiety. “I’m scared,” she told me, “because I’m not really in control. I don’t know what will happen, or what it will really feel like.”

This is, of course, a completely natural response to a completely natural situation. Women give birth every day – but for Melanie, it is not every day. It is the most consequential day of her life so far. I asked her to remember that she has everything she needs to navigate what’s coming, and then to imagine herself coping Read More >

Parashat Shelah – 5786Marisa Amith2026-06-09T07:15:50-04:00

Parashat Beha’alotekha – 5786

A Reflection on Symbols, Service, and the Future of Am Yisrael

A D’var Torah for Parashat Beha’alotekha

By Rabbi Anat Katzir

Parashat Beha’alotekha opens with the image of one of the most enduring symbols of the Jewish people:

דַּבֵּר֙ אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֔ן וְאָמַרְתָּ֖ אֵלָ֑יו בְּהַעֲלֹֽתְךָ֙ אֶת־הַנֵּרֹ֔ת אֶל־מוּל֙ פְּנֵ֣י הַמְּנוֹרָ֔ה יָאִ֖ירוּ שִׁבְעַ֥ת הַנֵּרֽוֹת׃

“Speak to Aaron and say to him: When you raise up the lamps, let the seven lamps give light at the front of the menorah.” (Numbers 8:2)

The menorah becomes more than a ritual object. It is a symbol of continuity, responsibility, and resilience of Am Yisrael. Throughout Jewish history, the menorah has represented the spiritual light of the Jewish people. Today, it is also the emblem of the modern State of Israel, reminding us that Jewish sovereignty must be rooted not only in power, but in moral purpose.

The menorah symbolizes a Judaism that radiates outward. The light was never meant to remain hidden within Read More >

Parashat Beha’alotekha – 5786Marisa Amith2026-06-02T11:09:50-04:00

Shavuot 5786

In this week's D'var Torah, Cantor Sandy Horowitz reflects on Shavuot as an opportunity to re-enact the moment of revelation at Sinai, and looks at how the chanting of the Ten Commandments supports us in this endeavor.

Shavuot 5786Linda Ripps2026-05-20T16:05:02-04:00

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

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

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