Parshat Nitzavim/VaYelekh

By Sanford Olshansky

When I was 22 years old, I had stopped practicing Judaism. My attendance at Shabbat services had dwindled to zero. Not so unusual – lots of Jews attend synagogue only on the High Holidays plus an occasional bar/bat mitzvah or wedding. But that year, I didn’t even attend High Holiday services – I worked – and it didn’t feel right.

Later that year I read The Source, by James Michener. As I became engrossed in it, I realized that it was speaking to me about a miracle – the miracle of Jewish survival. It reminded me that for over 3,000 years our continuous chain of tradition and belief has survived conquest, exile and dispersion, the rise and fall of empires and persecution which is unparalleled
in human history. It helped me to realize that I’m an heir to a unique spiritual heritage. If I hadn’t read Read More >

By ahsilver|2009-09-08T16:22:43-04:00September 8, 2009|

Parashat Ki Tavo

By Rabbi Halina Rubenstein

One of the most rewarding experiences of my rabbinical career has been teaching conversion classes. It is exhilarating seeing the students learning Judaism step by step and then witnessing their evolving Jewish identity when everything you have been teaching congeals and becomes love and acceptance. The close relationship that the students and I develop through many months of weekly sessions is essential for this transformation to happen. Working through their struggles, their strengths and weaknesses, their joys and tribulations, together, creates a strong connection and gives them the support to go through the last stage of the conversion process -which is usually charged with anxiety – the meeting with the Bet Din and the mikvah ceremony. This rite of passage which marks their ‘official’ acceptance is a powerful ritual usually accompanied by a dialogue between the Bet Din and the convert in which Read More >

By Rabbi Isaac Mann|2009-09-03T09:50:15-04:00September 3, 2009|

Parashat Shoftim

By Simon Rosenbach

If you are of a certain age, you remember Superman, the television show with George Reeves, Noel Neill, Jack Larson, and, among others, Phillips Tead as the delightful Professor Pepperwinkle . . . but I digress. Of course you remember the end of the introduction: “fighting a never ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way.” Well, if you are of a certain age, you had fun with that ending. It became, “fighting a never ending battle for truth, justice, and something completely different, the American way.” After all, if truth and justice are not the American way, then what is?

This week’s parashah poses a similar puzzle. Moses directs the people to appoint judges who will judge impartially, who will not accept bribes that blind their eyes. Then, as though he were mentioning something completely different, Moses utters those famous words, Tzedek, tzedek tirdof. “Justice, justice you shall pursue.” Read More >

By ahsilver|2009-08-18T13:00:47-04:00August 18, 2009|

Parashat Re’eh

August: the lazy days of summer. Our senses are filled with the beauty of late sunsets, the taste of fresh produce, the feeling of grass on bare feet. My family and I will be setting out on vacation shortly, a road trip that will include visits to college campuses, as we embark on the ritual of “The College Selection Process”. I’m comforted by the thought that our daughter still has two more years at home with us, before she heads off to college…

“SEE THIS DAY I SET BEFORE YOU BLESSING AND CURSE”! Like a prelude to the daily shofar blast which takes place during the upcoming month of Elul, the first words of Parashat Re’eh shake us out of our summertime complacency. Wake up, choose blessing, and be ready for what lies ahead, “For you are about to cross the Jordan and possess the land that the Lord your God is assigning Read More >

By Cantor Sandy Horowitz|2009-08-12T19:38:45-04:00August 12, 2009|

Parashat Ekev

By Rabbi Dorit Edut

There is a juxtaposition of two verses in this week’s Torah portion, Ekev, which relate very well to a modern-day phenomenon. Moses, just prior to his death, exhorts the People of Israel to stop blocking themselves from belief in and loyalty to God (Deuteronomy 10:16):

Cut away, therefore, the thickening about your hearts and stiffen your necks no more.

Three verses later, Moses emphasizes that we are to emulate the greatness of God through our actions, specifically (Deuteronomy 10:19):

You too must befriend the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

The Hebrew word for “stranger” is “ger” which has also been used to mean “convert.”

In other words, we are being asked to look at our own practices and open ourselves us up to developing a deep and abiding relationship with our Creator, the One Who is concerned about all those created. And then, Read More >

By ahsilver|2009-08-04T08:35:07-04:00August 4, 2009|

Parashat VaEtchanan

Comfort, Oh Comfort!
By Hazzan Marcia Lane

I just got back from Israel. A friend, who has never been there, asked me, “Were you okay? Did you feel comfortable everywhere?” The nature of the question is similar to one that was posed to me right here in my home-town of Long Branch, NJ: “I parked my car in that block. Am I going to feel comfortable going back after dark?” The implication, of course, is that there is danger in certain places or in certain times of day. We should be on our guard in these places or at these times. We should find no comfort there.

Leaving aside the widespread – and unfounded – feeling among some people that the whole of Israel (or parts of Long Branch!) is a danger zone, there are certainly times and places that fill us with feelings
of discomfort. This period of economic uncertainty is probably one Read More >

By ahsilver|2009-07-30T09:54:48-04:00July 30, 2009|

Parashat Devarim

Shabbat Hazon – Sabbath of Vision
By Jill Minkoff

Vision – This week’s Sabbath is Shabbat Hazon, the Sabbath of Vision. We read Isaiah 1:1-27. The selection of this Haftarah sets the stage for our observance and memories of Tisha B’Av (rather than for its connection to the Parashat HaShavuah). It begins with the word: Hazon, Vision. It includes three visions of inequities and sin that are the basis for God’s request that we come and mediate an understanding in order to be saved through judgment.

Vision – The Parashat HaShavuah is Devarim 1:1-3:22. Moses commences his final words to the community that has traveled from Egypt toward Israel. A friend recently shared with me how he was struck by the vision of the numerous places Moses recalls and names. They are the multitude of locations along the path from Egypt Read More >

By ahsilver|2009-07-23T08:57:27-04:00July 23, 2009|

Parashat Mattot/Mas’ei

By Jill Hackell

After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, the Israelites are poised to cross the Jordan River, and to enter the Promised Land. In the previous parashah, Pinhas, a census of all individuals is taken, and Moses begins the transfer of authority to Joshua, who will lead the people in this next part of their history, the settlement of the Land, the grand finale to the Exodus from Egypt.

But, in our parashah, Mattot, the descendents of Reuben, and Gad look around, and see that the land east of the Jordan is perfect for their needs. They ask Moses, “Is it okay if we stay here to raise our cattle, rather than crossing the Jordan and being assigned land on the other side?” As Nehama Leibowitz points out, the ensuing interchange speaks volumes about the Read More >

By Rabbi Jill Hackell M.D.|2009-07-14T20:30:23-04:00July 14, 2009|

Parashat Pinhas

By Julius Rabinowitz

Pinhas, the son of Elazar the son of Aaron, got up and took a spear in his hand and ran it through Zimri, the son of a chieftain from the tribe of Simon, and Cozbi, the daughter of a leader of the Midianites. What was their heinous crime that deserved such punishment: a public sexual act of undefined nature?

This week’s Torah portion is called “Pinhas” and you would be excused if you couldn’t find this gory depiction in the reading. Because it was in last week’s reading. This week we only read about God’s rewarding Pinhas with the “covenant of peace” for eternity – the only person to receive this reward from God. But if you didn’t read last week’s Torah portion you wouldn’t have a clue as to what he did to deserve the unique reward as the only indication we have this Read More >

By ahsilver|2009-07-07T07:55:21-04:00July 7, 2009|

Parashat Huqqat-Balaq

Judaism’s Prime Directive

By Irwin Huberman

There have been many attempts in our tradition to boil down the
entire Torah into one clear directive.

Over the generations, Jews and those from other faiths have wrestled with the difficult question, “what exactly does God want from me?”

The Talmud (Shabbat 31a) tells the story of three persons who wished to convert to Judaism. In each case, they were initially rejected by the scholar Shammai, known for his strictness, but they were later accepted and converted by the more lenient Hillel who, when asked to describe the essence of the Torah “on one foot” responds, “What you dislike, do not do to your friend. That is the basis of the Torah. The rest is commentary; go and learn!” Read More >

By Rabbi Irwin Huberman|2009-06-30T07:55:35-04:00June 30, 2009|

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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