Parashat Vayehi 5782

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

Click HERE for an audio recording of this D‘var Torah

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)

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

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|

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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