Parashat Va’era, 5778

Exodus: God, Women, and Dr. King

A D’var for Parashat Va’era

by Rabbi Rena H. Kieval ’06

“Exodus: Gods and Kings.” That is the name of Hollywood’s most recent major film version of the seminal story of our people. The title resonates with our parashah, as we follow the grand showdown of majestic force between God, capital G, and gods, lower case g, the gods of the Egyptians, and the mighty King Pharaoh. Gods and Kings. We see in this Torah story how Gods and Kings make history. We see the dramatic confrontations which culminate in the defeat of the oppressor King Pharaoh, and the liberation of the Israelites, God’s people.

As we enter into the thick of this spectacular drama, however, we should note that the Torah leads up to the story with a prologue that begins the Exodus narrative with a somewhat different framework. The stage was set in last week’s parashah, Shemot; it reminds us that history is made not only by Gods and Read More >

By Rabbi Rena Kieval|2018-01-11T15:32:47-05:00January 11, 2018|

Parashat Shemot, 5778

The Power of Your Hebrew Name
A D’var for Parashat Shemot
by Rabbi Irwin Huberman ’10

A popular website which monitors facts relating to pregnancy, birth, and babies recently released its list of the most popular baby names for 2017.

According to this site, BabyCenter, top names for newborn boys were Jackson, Liam, Noah, and Aiden. For baby girls the most popular choices were Sophia, Olivia, Emma, and Ava.

Those who study these trends also note that names like Asher, Ezra, Atticus, and LeBron are on the upswing, along with Cora, Isabella, Amelia, and Charlotte.

Those are the secular choices. But what about Judaism? Although few statistics are kept within the Jewish world, we can remain pretty confident that worldwide there was no significant change between 2017 and 2016, or for that matter, for hundreds of previous years.

This is largely because, within Judaism, we attach a unique meaning to names. The Kabbalistic tradition links word for a person’s soul – Neshama – Read More >

By Rabbi Irwin Huberman|2018-01-05T16:56:07-05:00January 5, 2018|

Parashat Vayigash, 5778

Jacob’s Ultimate Encounter with God
A D’var Torah for Vayigash
by Cantor Sandy Horowitz ’14

“And God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and God said, ‘Jacob, Jacob’. And he said, hineni, ‘Here am I’. And God said ‘I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt; for I will there make of you a great nation; I will go down with you to Egypt; and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph shall put his hand upon your eyes.” Genesis 46:2-4

In Parashat Vayigash, while traveling towards Egypt and the reunion with his long-lost and most-beloved son Joseph, Jacob receives this powerful message of reassurance from God. It is a significant moment not only in the context of Jacob’s own life, it also stands out with regard to two other Torah hineni moments.

As a youth Jacob first encountered Read More >

By Cantor Sandy Horowitz|2017-12-20T12:52:37-05:00December 20, 2017|

Parashat Miketz, 5778

Joseph: The First Diaspora Jew?
A D’var Torah for Miketz

by Rabbi Len Levin

“Pharaoh then gave…Joseph for a wife Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On… Joseph named his first-born son Manasseh, meaning ‘God has made me forget my hardship and my parental home.’” (Genesis 41:45, 51)

“They served Joseph by himself, and the brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians by themselves; for the Egyptians could not dine with the Hebrews, since that would be abhorrent to the Egyptians.” (Genesis 43:32)

Jews have migrated to many lands Read More >

By Rabbi Len Levin|2017-12-13T10:10:59-05:00December 13, 2017|

Parashat Vayeshev, 5778

The Dreams of Joseph and Solomon
A D’var Torah for Vayeshev
Rabbi Jill Hammer

Many have suggested that events in the Book of Genesis are intertextual with events in the Book of Samuel. For example, the ketonet pasim, the colorful striped coat that Joseph wears as his brothers betray him and sell him into slavery, has a direct relationship with the ketonet pasim, the colorful striped coat that Tamar daughter of David wears as her brother Amnon betrays and rapes her. In fact, in Tanakh there are the only two “striped coats” (the Hebrew word pas may mean “to divide into parts”).

Both coats are torn. Joseph’s brothers tear his in an effort to fake his death, and Tamar tears hers in mourning for what has happened to her. Joseph and Tamar, both betrayed by siblings, must be read in light of one another. It is not even clear which text we should read first. As Read More >

By Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD|2017-12-05T12:08:08-05:00December 5, 2017|

Parashat Vayishlah, 5778

Not as Bad as We Expected
A D’var Torah for Vayishlah
by Rabbi Heidi Hoover

In this week’s Torah portion, Vayishlah, Jacob and his family return to his homeland, and Jacob anticipates his reunion with his brother Esau. It’s been more than 20 years since Jacob ran away from his brother’s anger, after having stolen their father’s blessing. He is afraid to meet Esau again, afraid that Esau will still be angry. When they do meet, the text says, “Esau ran to greet him. He embraced him and, falling on his neck, he kissed him; and they wept” (Genesis 33:4).

The Hebrew word for the phrase, “he kissed him” has dots in the text over each letter. The rabbis interpret this as having meaning. In Midrash Rabba, Rabbi Shimon ben Eleazar says this “teaches that he kissed him with all his heart.” Rabbi Yannai disagrees, saying, “It teaches however, that he wished to Read More >

By Rabbi Heidi Hoover|2017-11-28T15:43:44-05:00November 28, 2017|

Parashat Vayetzei, 5778

Jacob and Laban: The Struggle between Past and Future
A D’var Torah for Vayetzei
by Rabbi Bruce Alpert

People who join my Shabbat morning Torah study – particularly those who have never engaged in such study before – are often amazed to discover that they are free to form their own opinions about the Biblical text and the characters who inhabit it. Often, they use this new-found freedom to decide they don’t like our patriarch Jacob. His conditional acceptance of God at the beginning of this week’s parashah, along with his various deceptions and favoritisms, form their bill of particulars against the man.

Opposed to this position stand the rabbis and their view of Jacob’s antagonist. “Go and learn what Laban the Aramean did to our father Jacob,” declares the Passover Haggadah. In its telling, Laban stands a step below Pharaoh in the Jewish annals of infamy.

Strong opinions, then, exist on both sides of Read More >

By Bruce Alpert|2017-11-21T15:40:05-05:00November 21, 2017|

Parashat Toldot, 5778

We’ll Always Have Parents: 2017
A D’var Torah for Toldot
by Rabbi Rena H. Kieval

In the classic movie Casablanca, the ill-fated lovers played by Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman share these words of comfort: “We’ll always have Paris.” A playful poem by Mary Jo Salter uses that line to make a point. The poem, titled, “We’ll Always Have Parents,” notes that, “We’ll always have them…they’re in our baggage.” The poem calls to mind what a wise and learned person once told me: that no matter how old we are, most of us shape our lives in response to our parents. We may define ourselves in a positive way by who our parents were, and what they taught us, and we may also define ourselves against who our parents were, and what they taught us. Most of us are driven and shaped by mixed legacies. Whatever those legacies are, “we’ll always have parents.”

Parashat Toldot reflects this Read More >

By Rabbi Rena Kieval|2017-11-14T09:43:24-05:00November 14, 2017|

Parshat Hayei Sara, 5778

Hospitality: Judaism’s Family Business
by Rabbi Irwin Huberman

It was twenty years ago that my wife and I learned from two young children one of the most important values within all of Judaism.

It’s a lesson embodied in this week’s Parashah, Hayei Sarah-and it may well be a central pillar of what has allowed Jewish tradition to endure and evolve over thousands of years.

I remember that chilly winter night, long before I entered the rabbinate, when the local Chabad rabbi invited my wife and me for Shabbat dinner.

We were obviously nervous.

Would we say something wrong? Would we stumble when asked to recite the Sabbath blessings? These questions and a dozen more like them seemed to fill the air as we made our way up our hosts’ driveway.

As we approached the front steps, the door swung open, and out flew two boys, aged nine and eleven, who grabbed our gloves and coats and hats before we’d Read More >

By Rabbi Irwin Huberman|2017-11-09T10:45:40-05:00November 9, 2017|

Parshat VaYera, 5778

by Rabbi Isaac Mann

I would like to share with you a very insightful ethical interpretation of a midrashic comment that I heard in the name of Rabbi Avraham Yaakov Pam, who was the Rosh ha-Yeshiva of Mesivta Torah Vodaath in the latter part of the 20^th century.

Commenting on the verse in Genesis 21:6, which describes Sarah’s reaction to her giving birth to Isaac at the age of 90 (“G-d has brought me laughter; whoever hears about this will laugh with me”), the Midrash adds that many barren women became pregnant (literally “were remembered by G-d”) along with her, many sick were healed along with her, many prayers were answered along with her, for there was much laughter (i.e. joy) in the world (quoted by Rashi ad loc.).

The Midrash is apparently responding to the question of why would everyone who heard about Sarah’s birth erupt into joyful laughter. Surely Read More >

By Rabbi Isaac Mann|2017-11-01T11:18:24-04:00November 1, 2017|

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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