Parashat Tzav 5781

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A D’ver Torah for Parashat Tzav
By Rabbi Michael Rothbaum (’06)

At my shul, there are indications that we’re still in “Covid times.” With cameras and control panels, the sanctuary looks like a recording studio. We still have hand sanitizer dispensers all over the building. And, in the corner, there’s a cart of siddurim with a sign instructing people not to touch them.

This last one, of course, makes no sense. The cart is from a year ago. We swiped it from the library — much to the chagrin of the shul librarian — and put it in the sanctuary. At the time, we asked people who were still coming into the building to leave used siddurim on the cart, where we would leave them for two weeks, until they were safe to use again.

Remember those early days of Covid? When we afraid to touch anything?

Since then, we’ve learned a lot Read More >

By Rabbi Michael Rothbaum|2022-07-29T11:24:21-04:00March 25, 2021|

Parshat Vayikra 5781

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Sacrifices, Disappointment, and Hope
A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayikra
By Rabbi Lizz Goldstein (’16)

Good news: I have been vaccinated! Perhaps I should make an offering to God in gratitude. What might that look like?

This week’s Torah portion, Parashat Vayikra, details several types of sacrifices that will be brought into the freshly-built Mishkan: the olah, or burnt offering; the shelamim, or peace/wholeness offering; five variations of minha offerings, ways to give meal for those who cannot afford the animals of the other offerings; the hattat, or sin offering, with variations depending on the type of sin and sinner; and lastly the asham, or guilt-offering for trespass specifically against God. While most of these give at least some indication of why a person might bring them, the olah and the minha offerings seem to be “just ‘cuz”. So, in feeling the gratitude Read More >

By Rabbi Lizz Goldstein|2022-07-29T11:24:21-04:00March 19, 2021|

Parshiyot Vayakhel-Pikudei

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A D’var Torah for Parshiyot Vayakhel-Pekudei
By Rabbi Ariann Weitzman (’11)

Parshiyot Vayakhel-Pekudei recount the building, but more importantly, the embellishment, of the Tabernacle in the wilderness, according to detailed instructions given in last week’s parashah. This lavish description of fabrics, stones, weaving, woodworking, and artisanship comes on the heels of the building and destruction of the Golden Calf. There are some commentators who read the Golden Calf and the Tabernacle as two potential ends to the same impulse: a desire to build a physical presence to represent the ineffable, and to create a home for worship and supplication.

While the episode of the Golden Calf represented the worst possible process for building a site for communal worship, the Tabernacle represented the best. While the Golden Calf was constructed under the leadership of Aaron, who failed to either provide authority or vision, Read More >

By Rabbi Ariann Weitzman|2022-07-29T11:24:21-04:00March 12, 2021|

Parashat Ki Tissa 5781

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

Whether it be in a D’var Torah or in a Derash, two obvious sources of material I have assiduously avoided have been politics and what I have viewed as the thematically obvious. I have avoided the former not because I ignore or do not possess opinions about issues most would see as political. I am on the boards of many organizations who work in highly political spaces. My work has involved civil disobedience; including a night in jail and I have asserted my views in very public spaces. My congregants all know of my activism and progressive leanings without me having to say anything to them.

However, what I discovered pretty early on is that I am rarely in a position to change anyone’s mind based on what I say from the Bimah. My congregants Read More >

By Doug Alpert|2022-07-29T11:24:21-04:00March 4, 2021|

Parashat Tetzaveh 5781

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

לְפָנִ֣ים ׀ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל כֹּֽה־אָמַ֤ר הָאִישׁ֙ בְּלֶכְתּוֹ֙ לִדְר֣וֹשׁ אֱלֹהִ֔ים לְכ֥וּ וְנֵלְכָ֖ה עַד־הָרֹאֶ֑ה כִּ֤י לַנָּבִיא֙ הַיּ֔וֹם יִקָּרֵ֥א לְפָנִ֖ים הָרֹאֶֽה׃

Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he would say, “Come, let us go to the seer,” for the prophet of today was formerly called a seer. (I Samuel 9:9)

My eleven-year-old son showed me a YouTube video last week of a man wearing a mask (the COVID kind) imprinted with a realistic picture of a man’s face with a mask pulled down below his nose and mouth (see it here if you like). As he walks into a place of business, someone asks him to please put his mask on properly. He pulls his mask down and the joke is exposed.

The meta-mask prank on YouTube, timely for Read More >

By Rabbi/Cantor Sam Levine|2022-07-29T11:24:21-04:00February 26, 2021|

Parashat Terumah 5781

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Terumah and Shabbat Zakhor
By Rabbi Marc Rudolph (’04)

This week I want to share a D’var Torah from the collection of Divrei Torah known as Aish Kodesh[1], or Holy Fire. The Piacezna Rebbe, Rabbi Kolonymous Shapira, wrote these between 1939 and 1942 while confined in the Warsaw Ghetto. The particular D’var Torah I am about to summarize was written on January 27, 1940. The superscript informs us that on this Sabbath he was forced into hiding.

He begins by citing Ex 18:1. “Jethro heard all about what G-d had done….” Rashi’s commentary on this says that Jethro heard specifically about the Splitting of the Red Sea and the battle with Amalek. But, the Rebbe asks, why would Rashi need to say this? After all, the text itself says that Jethro “heard about all that G-d Read More >

By Rabbi Marc Rudolph|2022-07-29T11:24:22-04:00February 19, 2021|

Parashat Mishpatim 5781

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

In planning for this D’var Torah, I was set to focus on “Na’aseh v’nishmah” – “we will do and we will listen/understand.” (Ex. 24:7) Our Torah portion is filled with so many mitzvot – 53 to be exact; 23 positive imperatives, and 30 prohibitions. Moses shares this list with the Israelites and they say, “Na’aseh v’nishmah.” What does that mean? We’ll do these things first, and ask questions later? Even if we do not understand, we will do – and in the process of doing, understanding will come?

Then, a little over two weeks ago, I received the following text from one of the high school teachers in my congregation’s religious school:

Good evening, Rabbi! I was just walking three of our high school students through Mishpatim when we got to Exodus 23:23. Read More >

By Rabbi Enid C. Lader|2022-07-29T11:24:22-04:00February 12, 2021|

Parashat Yitro 5781

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Every Action has an Equal and Opposite Reaction
A D’var Torah for Parashat Yitro
By Rabbi Jeffrey Segelman

Three months after leaving Egypt, our ancestors arrived at the foot of Mt. Sinai. God called Moses to the mountain and gave him the words by which he would prepare the people for a remarkable event. Moses would tell the people that God desires us to be God’s treasure, God’s nation of priests, God’s holy people. In three days, God would descend to the top of the mountain while the people stood at its foot. God would be revealed to the people, and in God’s own voice, the people would begin to receive the Torah.

Three days later, the moment arrived. With thunder and lightning, a heavy cloud and an ever louder sound of the shofar, God “appeared.” The people shuddered and trembled as Moses brought them to the foot of Read More >

By Rabbi Jeffrey Segelman|2022-07-29T11:24:22-04:00February 4, 2021|

Parashat Beshalah 5781

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

We’re finally free! We have been released from the oppressive and heavy-hearted regime that not only oppressed our people, but wrought destruction on all of the inhabitants of the land. What was expected to be a long 400 years actually turned out to be even longer than anticipated. After so much suffering you’d think that we would like nothing better than to forget the whole incident and move forward. But, the trauma of our experience lingers with us and even overshadows our sense of the journey ahead.

Our parasha this week begins with the words “When Pharaoh let the people go” (Exod. 13:17). It is true that Pharaoh finally released the Israelites, but this masks the true major catalysts for the Exodus – the cry of the Read More >

By Rabbi Matthew Goldstone, PhD|2022-07-29T11:24:22-04:00January 29, 2021|

Parashat Bo 5781

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A D’var Torah for Parashat Bo
By Rabbi Lizz Goldstein (’16)

As I write this, the National Guard are gathering in abundance just a few miles away from me. It feels near impossible to try to plan ahead remarks for Shabbat this week, when our country and democratic institutions seem to be on unstable ground. I feel hopeful for a high probability of a relatively normal inauguration day, but I cannot ignore that there is still a distinct possibility for further violence and attempts to overthrow democracy, a reprise of the events of January 6^th. By the time this is published, inauguration day will be history, but even if it does go smoothly, I implore you not to write off the concerns as hyperbolic or hysterical. That sort of dismissal has allowed for escalating violence throughout history, and we must be Read More >

By Rabbi Lizz Goldstein|2022-07-29T11:24:22-04:00January 22, 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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