Search results for: Ki Tavo

By Rabbi Daniel Horwitz There is a famous Jewish legend which has bothered me from the first time I heard it, when I was about 8 or 9 years old. According to this legend, the foundation for the song introducing Shabbat, Shalom Aleikhem, there are two malakhei ha-sharet, ministering angels, one good and one bad, Read More >

In this week's Torah portion we are witness to a grand ritual - a dramatization depicting the landscape of choices within which we all reside, at all times. One half of the Israelite tribes are told to stand on Mt. Gerizim while the other half of the tribes are to stand on Mt. Ebal. Between Read More >

A D'var Torah for Parashat Aharei Mot Kedoshim By Cantor Sandy Horowitz ('14) Parashat Kedoshim consists of a series of commandments which God wants Moses to convey to the Israelite people. As is God’s wont, God has a lot to say as the verses in this parashah jump from one topic to another-- keep My sabbaths; Read More >

What is a Half Shekel Worth? A D'var Torah for Parashat Ki Tissa By Rabbi Irwin Huberman ('10) About three years ago, a mysterious envelope with no return address arrived on my desk. I opened it cautiously, slowly pulling out a blank white folded card which contained half of a twenty dollar bill. Was this Read More >

by Rabbi Michael Pitkowsky This week’s parashah, Ki Tisa, includes one of the most dramatic episodes in the entire Torah, the Golden Calf. The description found in the Torah has rebellion, passion, emotion, idolatry, and violence, all of the ingredients needed for a good story. I would like to focus on something that happened after Read More >

Click HERE for an audio recording of this D'var Torah 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 Read More >

By Michael G. Kohn Jews speak often and passionately about 'community.' Whether it is 'the Jewish community,' or 'our community,' the word conjures up something special, something important. But 'community' is more than a word; it is a living, breathing, organic entity that we Jews have tried to build and perfect for millennia. For all Read More >

Click HERE for an audio recording of this D'var Torah 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 Read More >

Click HERE for an audio recording of this D'var Torah 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 Read More >

Restoring What Has Been Lost A D'var Torah for Parashat Ki Teitzei by Rabbi Rena Kieval ('06) When life gets busy, with many distractions, I have a tendency to misplace objects: my keys, my cell phone, or a piece of mail with important information. Most of us have had the experience of losing an item whose absence Read More >