Sefer Bemidbar Archives | Academy for Jewish Religion

30 06, 2025

Parashat Hukkat – 5785

By Marisa Amith|2025-06-30T13:49:38-04:00June 30, 2025|

A D’var Torah for Parashat Hukkat

By Rabbi Marge Wise (AJR ‘21)

As someone who has struggled with understanding the concept of s’khar v’onesh, reward and punishment in Judaism, I find in parashat Hukkat perhaps a partial answer. Volumes have been written about what Moshe may have done wrong in this parashah, why God reacted as He did, whether it was Divine punishment and if it was, what can we learn from it.

Although I’m tempted to discuss some other themes in this parashah – the parah ha-adumah, the red heifer, the effect on Moses of Miriam and Aaron’s death, the plague which killed 15,000 individuals and the copper serpent cure, I’m determined to remain faithful to the theme of Moses’ striking the rock – twice – and what follows, in the hope of gaining additional insights into the subject of reward and punishment.

I searched through many commentaries because I was unhappy with the focus on punishment for Moses’ act of Read More >

24 06, 2025

Parashat Korah – 5785

By Marisa Amith|2025-06-24T14:21:18-04:00June 24, 2025|

Rosencrantz, Guildenstern and The 250 Men

A D’var Torah for Parashat Korah

By Rabbi Greg Schindler (AJR ’09)

Tom Stoppard’s 1966 play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, brings to the forefront two minor players from Hamlet – the couriers, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. While they prepare for, and perform, their small parts in the play, unknown scenes occur “offstage” (in Shakespeare’s Hamlet) that have major impacts on their lives.

This week’s Torah portion, Parashat Korah , is named for the insurrection led by Korah and his accomplices, Dathan and Aviram, against Moses. And – like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern – there are another 250 characters who play minor roles and whose lives are affected by “offstage” events beyond their knowing.

וַיִּקַּ֣ח קֹ֔רַח בֶּן־יִצְהָ֥ר בֶּן־קְהָ֖ת בֶּן־לֵוִ֑י וְדָתָ֨ן וַאֲבִירָ֜ם בְּנֵ֧י אֱלִיאָ֛ב וְא֥וֹן בֶּן־פֶּ֖לֶת בְּנֵ֥י רְאוּבֵֽן׃

וַיָּקֻ֙מוּ֙ לִפְנֵ֣י מֹשֶׁ֔ה וַאֲנָשִׁ֥ים מִבְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל חֲמִשִּׁ֣ים וּמָאתָ֑יִם נְשִׂיאֵ֥י עֵדָ֛ה קְרִאֵ֥י מוֹעֵ֖ד אַנְשֵׁי־שֵֽׁם׃

Took Korah, son of Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi, along with Read More >

16 06, 2025

Parashat Shelah – 5785

By Marisa Amith|2025-06-16T11:11:29-04:00June 16, 2025|

A D’var Torah for Parashat Shelah

By Hazzan Rabbi Luis Cattan

Nahbi and Geuel had grown up in the brickyards of Egypt, where children learned to whisper dreams only in the dark. They shared the same clay dust, the same lash, the same bitter herbs—but never friendship. Nahbi, son of Vophsi of the tribe of Naphtali, was careful and calculating, known for his smooth tongue and cautious mind. Geuel, son of Makhi from the tribe of Gad, was shrewd and ambitious, always watching from the shadows. They admired each other’s strengths in the way adversaries do—always measuring, never trusting.

Now, with the miraculous Exodus behind them and the covenant of Sinai fresh in their memories, they were suddenly leaders—appointed chieftains of their respective tribes. And rivals once more.

As the twelve chieftains stood before Moses, the air was thick with anticipation and uncertainty. His instructions were precise, devoid of sentiment:

“When Moses Read More >

9 06, 2025

Parashat Beha’alotekha – 5785

By Marisa Amith|2025-06-11T10:00:37-04:00June 9, 2025|

A D’var Torah for Parashat Beha’alotekha

By Rabbi Inna Serebro-Litvak (AJR ’16)

When I was six years old, my father took me on a camping trip with his coworkers and their children. (In Russia this was considered to be a team building activity).

My favorite memories of that time include sitting around the campfire, listening to the singing (someone would always bring a guitar), baking potatoes in the coals and watching the flames shooting up in the dark. I was fascinated by the beauty and the variety of shades of orange, the sound of the burning wood, the smell, and the smoke that rose up to the heavens. I thought that the campfire was a beautiful thing!

A few years later I learned the hard way that a beautiful fire can also be very dangerous and bring horrific destruction.

Here is how I learned the lesson about the power of fire:

We used to live on the sixth Read More >

4 06, 2025

Parashat Naso – 5785

By Marisa Amith|2025-06-04T12:39:13-04:00June 4, 2025|

Down and Dirty

A D’var Torah for Parashat Naso

By Cantor Robin Anne Joseph (AJR ’96)

A priest’s work is never done.

After a long day directing the services of the Gershonites, recording the enrollment of the Kohathites, the Gershonites, the Merarites, and retaining sacred donations…must the priests also be marriage counselors?

In Paashat Naso, any man who thinks his wife has “gone astray,” whether she has actually had sexual relations with another man or not, should be brought by the jealous husband to the priest. (Num. 5:12-15)

Oh, really? Whatever happened to the death penalty? Not that I’m in favor of that, but isn’t the death penalty the prescription for adultery?

Remember back in Leviticus… “If a man commits adultery with a married woman—committing adultery with another man’s wife—the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death.” Read More >

28 05, 2025

Parashat Bemidbar – 5785

By Marisa Amith|2025-05-28T10:25:23-04:00May 28, 2025|

A D’var Torah for Parashat Bemidbar

By Rabbi Susan Elkodsi (AJR ’15)

A few years ago, for Mother’s Day, my kids gave me a DNA-testing kit from Ancestry.com. Not surprisingly, the results came back as 99% Ashkenazi Jewish with 1% various other ethnicities, depending on some algorithm or something.

It was fascinating to start receiving DNA matches, including my daughter (whew!), connecting with some long-lost relatives, and learning about some distant ones whom I never knew existed. I get as far back as my great-grandparents, and then the history appears to end. My husband, whose father was part of the Egyptian Karaite community, has information going back 12 or 13 generations because excellent records have been kept and kept up.

Now imagine being an Israelite born into Egyptian slavery!

The book of Bemidbar/Numbers/In the Wilderness opens by telling us that the Israelites are in their second year following the Exodus from Egypt (1:1). While we don’t yet Read More >

30 07, 2024

Parashiyot Mattot-Masei 5784

By Linda Ripps|2024-07-30T11:34:27-04:00July 30, 2024|

Transitions. Life is full of them. We leave behind the past and embrace the future, and all the while, try to continue to live in the present. We see transitions play out every day, and as I write this, the United States is reacting to the news that President Biden has decided to not seek reelection, fully and wholeheartedly (as far as I can tell) endorsing and lifting up Vice President Kamala Harris.

22 07, 2024

Parashat Pinhas 5784

By Linda Ripps|2024-07-22T11:35:33-04:00July 22, 2024|

How can an Israeli soldier go back to sleep after battling in Gaza? I have been struggling with this question. It comes from the feeling that on top of the pain, sorrow, astonishment, and anger, we are now dealing with the fact that our people are forced to do something we didn't want. How do we achieve peace with the enemy? It is upon us and the enemy, hopefully soon; but how can our soldiers achieve peace with themselves?

16 07, 2024

Parashat Balak – 5784

By Linda Ripps|2024-07-16T13:50:32-04:00July 16, 2024|

Our parashah for this coming Shabbat, Parashat Balak, gives us much to think about in terms of the impact of our words as they translate into our actions.

10 07, 2024