The AJR Center for Judaism and Science has an annual competition for the best student D’var Torah infused with science. Click here to view the entries that have won our לדעת חכמה (Lada’at Hokhmah) Award.
Parashat Mishpatim – Shabbat Shekalim – 5786
February 9, 2026
Rabbi Anat Katzir
A D’var Torah for Parashat Mishpatim – Shabbat Shekalim By Rabbi Anat Katzir Reading the laws presented in the parashah this week was an opening to struggle with some of the discomfort caused by what feels like a gap of values between my world and the biblical one. It is through grappling with the reality of ancient history, and with the input from generations of Rabbinic leadership that followed, that I can see how behind the laws there are similar values and shared truths that needed to be redefined and amended through time and space. It is a lesson in context and adaptation of values over eras and cultures, and also a struggle with finding ways to overcome the gaps between Jewish communities of different interpretations, when it comes to understanding communal responsibilities and sharing the burdens of sustaining a modern-day state while finding guidance in ancient law. When working...
Parashat Yitro 5786
February 2, 2026
Rabbi Scott “Shalom” Klein
K’Ish Ehad: Organizational Infrastructure as a Path to Unity A D’var Torah for Parashat Yitro By Rabbi Scott “Shalom” Klein Parashat Yitro stands as the essential fulcrum of the Book of Exodus, marking the transition from a newly liberated population to a covenanted nation at the foot of Sinai. This portion offers a profound exploration of the nature of communal leadership, the ethics of delegation, and the radical openness required to receive the Divine law. By examining the structural wisdom of an outsider and the communal unity required for the Aseret HaDibrot, we find a timeless blueprint for the rabbinate, particularly for those serving in the pluralistic environments of the military or the intimate settings of small-town pulpits. The Parashah begins with a singular focus on an outsider through the words “וַיִּשְׁמַע יִתְרוֹ”—”And Yitro heard” (Exodus 18:1). While the entire world heard of the Exodus, the Midrash in Zevahim 116a...
Parashat Beshallah 5786
January 26, 2026
Cantor Sandy Horowitz
Lighting the Way A D’var Torah for Parashat Beshallah By Cantor Sandy Horowitz (’14) In our busy, often digital-driven lives, we tend to forget to pause and take note of the wonders of creation around us and above us. Yet, opportunities abound: when we pray the words from the morning liturgy “yotzer or u’vorei hoshekh” (“Creator of light and Fashioner of darkness”), we might pause and look out the window; when we are out at night, we could look up and take note of the phase of the moon, reflecting on its connection to the Hebrew month. Taking the time to watch the sun set can be a wondrous and profound experience – the sky slowly changing color as the sun gradually sets behind the horizon and disappears, and the colors continue to change until it is finally fully dark. Often, we’re too involved in the business of our daily...
Parashat Bo – 5786
January 19, 2026
Rabbi Kaya Stern-Kaufman
Softening the Heart A D’var Torah for Parashat Bo By Rabba Kaya Stern-Kaufman (AJR ’11) This week’s Torah portion, Bo, begins in the midst of the plagues against Egypt but with a clear distinction from the previous seven plagues. In last week’s parashah (Torah portion) we learn that despite the experience of each plague upon the land, animals and people of Egypt, Pharoah responds by hardening his heart to the plight of the Israelites and to Moses’ demands for them to leave Egypt. This week’s parashah begins with God’s declaration: והכבדתי את לבו – and I will harden his (Pharoah’s) heart. It appears as if God is tampering with Pharoah’s free will. This poses theological difficulties for most readers. I would like to suggest a different interpretation of these events that suggests the unfolding of a natural process. We discover much about Pharoah’s heart in the previous parashah – vaeira....
Parashat Vaeira – 5786
January 13, 2026
Rabbi Wendy Love Anderson
A D’var Torah for Parashat Vaeira Rabbi Wendy Love Anderson Just A Number At the beginning of Parashat Vaeira, the Torah detours from its ongoing Exodus narrative to provide genealogies for Moses and Aaron and recapitulate their divine appointment to bring the Israelites out of Egypt. At the very end of this digression, though, there’s an unexpected piece of information: “Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three, when they made their demand on Pharaoh” (Exod. 7:7). What do Moses and Aaron’s ages have to do with the Exodus? A plausible academic theory is that this information was inserted in an effort to harmonize the details of Moses’ biography: while he has a wife and young children when God commissions him in Exodus 3-4, in the later books of the Torah it’s established that the Israelites have been wandering for forty years before Moses dies at age 120. But more...
