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Parashat Lekh Lekha – 5779

The Encounter of Abraham and Melchizedek
A D’var Torah for Parashat Lekh Lekha
by Rabbi Lenny Levin

“And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was a priest of God Most High (El Elyon). He blessed him, saying, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth…” (Gen. 14:18–19)

“Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I swear to the Lord (YH-VH), God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth…” (Gen. 14:22)

Whenever Jews pray the Amidah, the Prayer par excellence, they invoke the name El Elyon, “God Most High” (and the Friday night liturgy adds: “Creator of heaven and earth”). But it is one of the rarer names for God in the Hebrew Bible. The more common names for God in the Bible are the Tetragrammaton (the four-letter personal name of God, represented in Hebrew by yod, hei, vav, hei, usually pronounced Adonai or Hashem Read More >

By Rabbi Len Levin|2018-10-18T14:24:05-04:00October 18, 2018|

Parashat Noah – 5779

A D’var Torah for Noah
By Rabbi Isaac Mann

Much has been written by the Bible commentators on the sins that caused God to bring on the Great Flood in the time of Noah. But little ink has been spilled (or keys pressed) in regard to what motivated the Supreme Being to ensure that there will never be a flood again to destroy the world (see Gen. 8:21, 9:8-17).

Surely if the corruption of humankind, and possibly the animal kingdom as well, brought on God’s anger (see Gen. 6:5-7, 11-13) and justified the destruction of all beings (except for Noah and those with him in the Ark), then what would happen if there would be a replay of this selfsame corruption? God’s hands, so to speak, would be tied by the oath He took not to put an end to all life. But then does that imply that He was wrong Read More >

By Rabbi Isaac Mann|2018-10-12T09:02:41-04:00October 12, 2018|

Parashat Bereshit 5779

Genesis (En)gendered: An Angelic View from Eden’s Way
A D’var Torah for Parashat Bereshit
by Rabbi David Markus

This momentous #metoo #ibelieveyou moment urges us to see old stories with new eyes. Reading sacred texts with ever renewing eyes is one of many ways that theology teaches us how to see and think – to reach beyond ourselves, to not become calcified and thus brittle, to strengthen our capacity to hold multiplicity and nuance without falling into hopeless relativism or nihilism.

Let’s start at the very beginning (“a very good place to start“). What might this moment of societal gender and sexual reckoning mean for how we read Torah’s sacred story of Creation, ostensibly the most familiar narrative in the Jewish canon?

That we can ask this question about Torah’s most familiar narrative itself says something important – and something hopeful – about the theological project of renewing our eyes and expanding what we see and how we see. (Pirkei Avot Read More >

By Rabbi David Evan Markus|2018-10-04T22:51:12-04:00October 4, 2018|

Parashat Nitzavim 5778

A D’var Torah for Parashat Nitzavim
by Rabbi Heidi Hoover (AJR ’11)

Week after week we wrestle with the Torah, often trying to figure out where the women are, how to deal with this God who seems often punishing and violent, and how to think about a hierarchical system of worship involving sacrifice of animals that is really alien to the way we worship now. For me, this week’s Torah portion, Nitzavim, is easier to approach than many others. It is both inclusive and equitable. There is still talk of punishment by God, but there is also reassurance of reconciliation with God.

The inclusivity of this Torah portion is right at the beginning, when Moses, who is now nearing the end of his final instructions to the Israelites, lists the various groups who are present, who are receiving the instruction. Those with authority are there: tribal heads, elders, and officials; and the men Read More >

By Rabbi Heidi Hoover|2018-09-06T12:04:29-04:00September 6, 2018|

Parashat Ki Tavo 5778

A D’var Torah for Parashat Ki Tavo
by Rabbi Bruce Alpert (’11)

One of the sublime joys of studying at AJR is experiencing tefillah in its community – especially at Retreat. Being in a room with 70 or 80 people, each of whom is, in some way, expert at Jewish prayer, is wondrous. And with a leader who is seeking – through her choice of prayers, songs, and niggunim – to impress upon her congregants a particular insight or perspective on our liturgy, you have an experience that can meet the high expectations for kavanah, for the intentionality that our rabbis have set for us as our goal in communicating with the Holy One.

I came to AJR with a very limited and narrow perspective on prayer. AJR broadened that perspective to my horizons, and then beyond them. It did so by fulfilling the words of Psalm 100: “Serve the Lord in gladness; come into His presence with Read More >

By Bruce Alpert|2018-08-30T16:42:30-04:00August 30, 2018|

Parashat Ki Teitzei 5778

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 disrupts the tasks of daily life. When that happens, a possession can take on an importance out of proportion to its true value. Even when we lose an object that is not especially essential, something feels awry, out of kilter. Lost objects can have a strange power, an ability to make everything feel disrupted. Conversely, when a lost object is located or returned, the relief can be huge: order seems to be restored.

The mitzvah of hashavat aveidah, the obligation to return lost objects to their owner, is stressed in the Torah and later rabbinic tradition. Parashat Ki Teitzei includes this mitzvah among its treasure trove Read More >

By Rabbi Rena Kieval|2018-08-23T13:34:44-04:00August 23, 2018|

Parashat Shoftim

Our Lips as Gates of Justice
A D’var Torah for Parashat Shoftim
by Rabbi Irwin Huberman ’10

I’ve often wondered why the Torah devotes so much effort towards commanding the Jewish people to establish judges and officers within its communal structure.

Agreed, it is vital that within any just and free society, a legal system be established under which issues and conflicts are adjudicated in a fair and unbiased manner.

The foundation of justice is so important, that twice within the Torah, including this week’s Parashah, we are instructed – Tzedek, Tzedek, Tirdof – “Justice, Justice shall you pursue” (Deuteronomy 16:20).

Furthermore, the Torah insists that this precious commodity – “justice, justice” – mentioned twice — be administered fairly — regardless of the class, financial status and social standing of its subjects.

It is why perhaps why this week’s Torah portion, Shoftim (Judges) has assumed such a high priority within both Jewish Read More >

By Rabbi Irwin Huberman|2018-08-15T13:26:04-04:00August 15, 2018|

Parashat Re’eh 5778

A D’var Torah for Parashat Re’eh
By Rabbi Isaac Mann

For this week’s d’var Torah on parashat Re’eh, I would like to share with you some homiletic interpretations that pertain to the mitzvah of tzedakah (roughly translated as “charity”) and that express some deep insights into this mitzvah.

The Torah devotes several verses to encouraging and demanding that the Jewish people give charity (through tithes) or lend money to the poor. In this week’s Torah sidra, the obligation to give to the needy is first expressed in the form of two negative commandments – “You shall not harden your heart and you shall not close your hand from your needy brother” (Deut. 15:7). This is followed by a positive instruction – “Rather you shall surely open your hand to him, and you shall lend him sufficient for his needs which he is lacking” (15:8).

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch in his commentary on the Pentateuch observes that Read More >

By Rabbi Isaac Mann|2018-08-08T18:19:28-04:00August 8, 2018|

Eikev 5778

A D’Var Torah for Parashat Eikev
By Cantor Sandy Horowitz (’14)

“Dear when you smiled at me, I heard a melody
It haunted me from the start
Something inside of me started a symphony
Zing! Went the strings of my heart”

These lyrics come from a song made famous by Judy Garland in 1938 and recorded by others many times since. “Zing went the strings of my heart…” What does this mean, exactly? According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, the term “heartstrings” refers to one’s “deepest emotions or affections”. According to our singer, “Zing!” is the sound of heartstrings tugged by love.

Imagine our awareness of Divine Love being so strong, so immediate that it would make our heart go “Zing!” Perhaps that is what God is asking of the Israelites in Parashat Eikev this week when they are commanded, “U’maltem et orlat l’vavkhem v’arp’khem lo takshu od”, “You shall circumcise the foreskin of your heart, therefore, and be Read More >

By Cantor Sandy Horowitz|2018-08-03T08:17:31-04:00August 3, 2018|

Va’ethanan 5778

The Paradox of Faces
A D’var Torah for Va’ethanan
By Rabbi Jill Hammer

This parashah is a second telling of the wilderness revelation: a remix of Sinai, if you will. Our parashah is a part of the long speech Moses makes to his people as they are about to enter the land of Canaan. It is also the center of a crucial Jewish paradox.

Moses describes the revelation at Sinai by saying: “The Eternal spoke to you out of the fire, you heard the voice of words (kol devarim) but you saw no image, nothing but a voice.”

This description of revelation is so complex as to resemble a Zen koan. First of all, in spite of the way I just translated it, it’s in the present tense: ‘You hear the voice of words, but you see no image, nothing but a voice.” It’s a description of God focused on sound, voice, story, and yet we see Read More >

By Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD|2018-07-26T16:40:29-04:00July 26, 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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