Parashat Mishpatim 5779

We the People, in Covenant with God
A D’var Torah for Parashat Mishpatim
By Rabbi Len Levin

“And these are the rules that you shall set before them.” (Exodus 21:1)

Who are the them before whom God instructs Moses to set the rules in this week’s portion?

Rashi, following the Talmud (Gittin 88b), interprets this verse as teaching that the judicial rules are to be entrusted to the ordained Israelite judges, not to gentile courts or to Israelite lay persons. On this reading, them refers to the judges (playing on lifneihem to suggest lifnim [within]—a subset of the people).

But the context of this passage suggests a broader audience. This verse is a continuation of the speech beginning in Exodus 20:19: “The Lord said to Moses: Thus shall you say to the Israelites: You yourselves saw that I spoke to you from the very heavens.” On this contextual reading, the rules of Parashat Mishpatim are Read More >

By Rabbi Len Levin|2019-01-31T12:18:25-05:00January 31, 2019|

Parashat Yitro 5779

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

At the beginning of this week’s parasha Moses’ father-in-law, Yitro, hears of “all that God had done for Moses and the Israelites” (Exod. 18:1) and he brings Moses’ wife and children to join the Israelites in the desert. Moses goes out to greet Yitro and warmly welcomes him into his tent. Moses then recounts to his father-in-law all of the miraculous deeds that God performed to bring the Israelites out of Egypt and Yitro rejoices (Exod. 18:8-9). But wait. If Yitro already heard about “all that God had done for Moses and the Israelites,” then why does he only rejoice after hearing all of this again from Moses? By this point the exodus is old news! Perhaps the answer lies not in the message but in the messenger. Hearing secondhand, even about miracles such as the splitting of the sea, is simply Read More >

By Rabbi Matthew Goldstone, PhD|2019-01-24T12:47:38-05:00January 24, 2019|

Parashat Beshallah 5779

A D’car Torah for Parashat Beshallah
By Rabbi David Evan Markus

It’s an occupational hazard. We clergy so delight in bringing Torah to life and liturgy to life that we might unashamedly “geek out” – especially when we do both at the same time. When I link Torah with liturgy in ways that enliven both, my joy can be irrepressible. (Thankfully my New York congregation seems to like it, and my closest friends at least grudgingly tolerate it.)

This week’s portion (Beshallah) and its Song of the Sea seem ready-made for this Torah-liturgy two-fer of joy.

Morning and evening, traditional liturgy after the Shema brings us to the Sea of Reeds (Ex. 14). We reach the shore of entrapping finitude and then, with holy help, we’re invited to see the impossible into being. By suspending disbelief and experiencing the miracle, we can go free again and again. This journey from bondage to freedom is the journey of Jewish Read More >

By Rabbi David Evan Markus|2019-01-18T14:05:43-05:00January 18, 2019|

Parashat Bo 5779

A D’var Torah for Parashat Bo
By Rabbi Heidi Hoover (’11)

In this week’s Torah portion, Bo, we are in the midst of the dramatic story of the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt, when they go from slavery to freedom. Because it is the story we retell at Passover, it is one of the most familiar in the Torah. God frees the Israelites “with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm” (Psalm 136:12).

In parashat Bo, the last three of the ten plagues befall the Egyptians: locusts, darkness, and the death of the first-born. The penultimate plague, darkness, seems like it might be less destructive than the other two. After all, it gets dark every night, and we all get through it. But this wasn’t like that regular, natural darkness. This was three solid days of “darkness that can be touched” (Exodus 10:21). “A person could not see his brother or sister, and for Read More >

By Rabbi Heidi Hoover|2019-01-11T22:59:54-05:00January 11, 2019|

Parashat Va’era 5779

Hearing more voices in the Passover story
A D’var Totah for Parashat Va’era
By Rabbi Irwin Huberman (’10)

The story of the enslavement of Jewish people in Egypt is perhaps one of the most powerful stories within the entire Torah. It is the stuff of heroes and villains, slavery and liberation.

It has captured the imagination of those across many faiths and cultural backgrounds, and continues to inspire Passover – perhaps the most observed holiday across all of Judaism.

Yet, there are so many gaps and unanswered questions.

Indeed, while this week’s Parashah, Va’era (And God appeared) engages us in a thrilling narrative of miracles and plagues, there is perhaps one central perspective which is sorely lacking: “Where are the voices of the Israelites and Egyptians – those who were the most affected by this dramatic story of slavery and human suffering?”

Isn’t it interesting that the entire Passover story is told almost exclusively through three main characters: Moses, Read More >

By Rabbi Irwin Huberman|2019-01-04T09:51:02-05:00January 4, 2019|

Parashat Shemot 5779

A D’var Torah for Parashat Shemot
By Rabbi Bruce Alpert (’11)

Living up to its own name, our Torah portion, Shemot – Names – has a lot of them. Some of them are known to us. Some are new. And some aren’t given at all.

Among the new names are those of Shiphrah and Puah – the two midwives whom Pharaoh orders to kill all the male Israelite newborns. And therein lies a curiosity. We know the names of the servants. We don’t know the name of the king they serve. Indeed, his only identifying characteristic seems to be that he “did not know Joseph.” (Exodus 1:8).

The Rashi on this verse directs us to a dispute in the Talmud between Rav and Shmuel as to this Pharaoh’s identity (Sotah 11a). One insists that he really is a new leader, while the other claims it was the same Pharaoh as in Joseph’s time who issued new decrees following the latter’s death. To me, Read More >

By Bruce Alpert|2018-12-27T15:52:13-05:00December 27, 2018|

Parashat Vayehi 5779

A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayehi
by Cantor Sandy Horowitz (’14)

With Parashat Vayehi we come to the end of the book of Genesis, the completion of a series of individual narratives including those of our matriarchs and patriarchs.

Let us imagine for a moment that Genesis and the following book of Exodus are two parts of a movie, each with its own musical soundtrack. Genesis ends on a happy note as Jacob is buried in the family plot at Makhpela in Canaan, surrounded by his family — grand-finale-type music, or perhaps a mellow, sweet melody. Camera pans out. Suddenly, the tone of the movie score alters dramatically as the Exodus narrative begins — a sinister motif suggesting the portent of things to come, the slavery of our people at the hands of a paranoid and cruel pharaoh. There’s trouble ahead!

Pause. We’re not ready to move forward yet. High-speed rewind. Let’s take another look at that Genesis happy ending, Read More >

By Cantor Sandy Horowitz|2018-12-20T18:15:29-05:00December 20, 2018|

Parashat Vayiggash 5779

Reconciliation is Difficult
A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayiggash
by Rabbi Len Levin

“Then Judah went up to him and said, Please, my lord…” (Gen. 44:18)

“And Joseph could no longer refrain before all those standing before him…” (Gen. 45:1)

Reconciliation is difficult.

This week’s Torah reading provides the climax to a narrative that has been unfolding for the past several weeks. This narrative begs to be read on two levels—on the level of a specific family, and on the level of social groups.

On the specific level, there is a clash of personalities, such as we experience in many families. The personalities are sharply different, and the sharp personal differences generate conflicts that escalate to critical proportions. In a family of strong personalities, Joseph is extraordinary, and he demands to be treated as special. The brothers resent his superiority attitude and find dubious ways to be rid of him, at great cost to their integrity and Read More >

By Rabbi Len Levin|2018-12-13T18:10:13-05:00December 13, 2018|

Parashat Vayigash 5779

Reconciliation is Difficult
A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayiggash
by Rabbi Len Levin

“Then Judah went up to him and said, Please, my lord…” (Gen. 44:18)

“And Joseph could no longer refrain before all those standing before him…” (Gen. 45:1)

Reconciliation is difficult.

This week’s Torah reading provides the climax to a narrative that has been unfolding for the past several weeks. This narrative begs to be read on two levels—on the level of a specific family, and on the level of social groups.

On the specific level, there is a clash of personalities, such as we experience in many families. The personalities are sharply different, and the sharp personal differences generate conflicts that escalate to critical proportions. In a family of strong personalities, Joseph is extraordinary, and he demands to be treated as special. The brothers resent his superiority attitude and find dubious ways to be rid of him, at great cost to their integrity and Read More >

By Rabbi Len Levin|2018-12-13T18:10:13-05:00December 13, 2018|

Parashat Miketz 5779

Joseph: Is He Greater than the Patriarchs?
A D’var Torah for Parashat Miketz
by Rabbi Isaac Mann

As the lights of the Hanukah menorah grow from day to day, so does our fascination with the story of Joseph in the Bible (which we read about in the synagogue on Hanukah) increase from year to year. What is it about this story, the longest in the Torah, that we never tire from discussing and thinking about?

While there are many answers to this question, most of which relate to Joseph’s character, a new thought came to me that I would like to express in this D’var Torah, and it starts with a question. Why is it that Joseph, who the Rabbis referred to as Yosef ha-Zaddik (see, e.g. Yoma 35b) – Joseph the Righteous – never received any communication from God, not even from an angel, as did his forebears, the Patriarchs, all of whom merited Read More >

By Rabbi Isaac Mann|2018-12-06T13:16:38-05:00December 6, 2018|

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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