Special Parshiyot Archives | Academy for Jewish Religion

11 05, 2026

Parashat Bemidbar – 5786

Marisa Amith2026-05-11T18:33:55-04:00

A D’var Torah for Parashat Bemidbar

By Rabba Kaya Stern-Kaufman

Just two months ago I lost my soul mate, my beloved husband, to cancer. He was the love of my life. My world has turned upside down. I find myself in an unrecognizable terrain, a wilderness with no clear reference points. He was my compass and my North Star. Yet, despite my personal loss, I am fairly certain that this feeling of disorientation is not unique to me. We are all experiencing such rapid societal changes, both domestically and internationally, that many of us are falling into despair, grief, fear, and disorientation. Norms, structures and societal agreements that held us together, that championed the good of all, over individual greed and gain, seem to have dissolved overnight under the brute force of humanity’s most base instincts; the endless desire for personal gain and power through the proliferation of fear, hatred and divisiveness. However, in Read More >

Parashat Bemidbar – 5786Marisa Amith2026-05-11T18:33:55-04:00

30 03, 2026

D’var Torah Pesah – 5786

Marisa Amith2026-03-30T15:06:53-04:00

From Spectators to Stakeholders: The Architecture of Spiritual Freedom

A D’var Torah for Pesah

By Rabbi Scott “Shalom” Klein

The festival of Pesah serves as the foundational narrative of our people, transitioning us from the degradation of “Avadim Hayinu” (we were slaves) to the existential responsibility of a free nation. While the Seder night focuses on the historical memory of the Exodus, the deeper theological challenge lies in the internal transformation required to sustain that freedom. By examining the Haggadah’s insistence on personal identification with the past and the Netivot Shalom’s (Rabbi Sholom Noah Berezovsky) insights on the nature of spiritual liberation, we find a timeless blueprint for leadership and communal resilience.

The central command of the evening is found in the Mishnah (Pesahim 10:5): “בְּכָל דּוֹר וָדוֹר חַיָּב אָדָם לִרְאוֹת אֶת עַצְמוֹ כְאִלּוּ הוּא יָצָא מִמִּצְרַיִם” ”—”In every generation, one is obligated to see oneself as if he personally went out from Egypt.” This is not merely a call to Read More >

D’var Torah Pesah – 5786Marisa Amith2026-03-30T15:06:53-04:00

15 04, 2025

Pesah 5785

Linda Ripps2025-04-15T16:23:15-04:00

Normally I look forward to my trips to Israel with much anticipation and excitement. Even following the horrific attack of October 7, and with an ongoing war, I was still looking forward to being with my people.

Pesah 5785Linda Ripps2025-04-15T16:23:15-04:00

26 04, 2024

Shabbat Hol HaMoed Pesah – 5784

Linda Ripps2024-04-26T13:39:54-04:00

During the festival of Pesah, it is customary to read Shir HaShirim – Song of Songs, a beautiful collection of poetry extolling the splendor and the power of love.

Shabbat Hol HaMoed Pesah – 5784Linda Ripps2024-04-26T13:39:54-04:00

24 05, 2023

A D’var Torah for Shavuot – 5783

jackielebwohl2023-06-01T10:52:53-04:00

Forty is the number of transformation in the Torah. And there are even too many examples to list! It rained for 40 days and 40 nights to transform the antediluvian world to our post-flood world. The 12 spies scouted the Land for 40 days and then the Children of Israel wandered in the desert for 40 years – to transform the people once bound by a slavery mindset to a people who could operate with a freedom mindset. Moses and G-d had a 40-day and 40-night havruta on top of Mount Sinai – to transform the Jewish people from pre-Torah to having received the Torah. Indeed, from Rosh Hodesh Elul to Yom Kippur is a 40-day period, marking our annual journeys with our own process of heshbon hanefesh and teshuvah.

Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, in his book Waters of Eden, delved into the meaning of mikvah and the significances of the number 40. The mikvah is the paradigmatic Jewish ritual of transformation. We are, Read More >

A D’var Torah for Shavuot – 5783jackielebwohl2023-06-01T10:52:53-04:00

3 04, 2023

Hol HaMoed Pesah 5783

Linda Ripps2023-05-03T12:08:28-04:00

Click here for an audio recording of this D’var Torah

A D’var Torah for Hol HaMoed Pesah
By Rabbi Ira J. Dounn (’17)

The Passover story, which we recount in our seders this week, highlights Moses (on behalf of G-d) telling Pharoah to “Let My people go!” (Exodus 5:1)

And yet I wonder: What are the things that we are holding onto? What do we need to let go of in our own lives?

The pre-Passover purge might indicate that we’re not too shabby at letting go of things. The spring cleaning that features the throwing away, giving away, or selling of our hametz is a reminder to us that it’s good to let things go.

But anyone who has had the unenviable job of cleaning out the home of a loved one who has passed away might find the task more daunting. In this instance, the only physical thing we have left of the person are their Read More >

Hol HaMoed Pesah 5783Linda Ripps2023-05-03T12:08:28-04:00

22 04, 2022

D’var Torah – Shabbat Shemini d’Pesah 5782

Linda Ripps2022-11-09T15:00:57-05:00

Click HERE for an audio recording of this D’var Torah

A D’var Torah for Shabbat, the seventh day of Pesah
By Rabbi Cantor Sam Levine (’19)

One of the key passages of the Passover Haggadah comes at the end of the maggid section: b’khol dor vador hayyav adam lir’ot et atzmo ke’ilu hu yatza miMitzrayim – “In every generation, a person is obligated to see themselves as though they personally had come out of Egypt…” This is a call to memory – to a national memory that has, to a large degree, been constructed for us. We are enjoined to “regard ourselves” as though we had personally come out of Egypt based on the information that we have been given, or at least based on a version of the story that has been passed down to us.

We are the people of memory. The Hebrew root z-kh-r (meaning “memory” or “remembering”) appears 228 times in the Hebrew Bible, and the Read More >

D’var Torah – Shabbat Shemini d’Pesah 5782Linda Ripps2022-11-09T15:00:57-05:00

13 04, 2022

D’var Torah – First Day of Passover 5782

Linda Ripps2022-11-09T15:00:46-05:00

Click HERE for an audio recording of this D’var Torah

A D’var Torah for the First Day of Passover
By Rabbi Marc Rudolph (’04)

This Friday marks the beginning of Passover. I am certain that most of us will be keenly aware that this seder will be the third time we hold our Seders since the Pandemic. The Pandemic has taken a very heavy toll on us all. Over the past two years, 4 in 10 adults have reported symptoms of depression and/or anxiety, up from one in ten before the Pandemic. There has been an increase in the number of people reporting difficulty sleeping, focusing, working, and learning. Consumption of alcohol and other drugs as well as overeating has increased. There has been an overall worsening of chronic medical conditions due to the worry and stress of the coronavirus and the social isolation as a result of it.

Therefore, I was intrigued when I came Read More >

D’var Torah – First Day of Passover 5782Linda Ripps2022-11-09T15:00:46-05:00

8 04, 2022

Parashat Metzora – Shabbat Hagadol 5782

Linda Ripps2022-11-09T15:00:31-05:00

Click HERE for an audio recording of this D’var Torah

Turning Our Hearts Towards Each Other at the Seder
A D’var Torah for Parashat Metzora – Shabbat Hagadol
By Rabbi Robert Scheinberg

Why is the Shabbat before Passover called Shabbat HaGadol – the “great Sabbath”? One of the best known explanations is presented by the Levush (OH 430:1), among other sources: It refers to the concluding lines from the Haftarah designated for Shabbat Hagadol, taken from the conclusion of the book of Malachi: “Lo, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the coming of the awesome [Hebrew: hagadol], fearful day of Adonai. He [Elijah] shall turn the hearts of parents toward children, and the hearts of children toward parents….” (3:23-24)

The prophet Malachi uses the word hagadol, “great” or “awesome,” to Read More >

Parashat Metzora – Shabbat Hagadol 5782Linda Ripps2022-11-09T15:00:31-05:00

2 04, 2021

Shabbat, the 7th Day of Pesah – 5781

Rabbi Jeffrey Segelman2022-07-29T11:24:21-04:00

Click HERE for an audio recording of this D’var Torah

A D’var Torah for Shabbat, the 7th Day of Pesah
By Rabbi Jeffrey Segelman

The seventh day of Pesah is highlighted by Shirat Hayam – the song that we sang when we saw that we were finally free from Egypt. It is impossible to overstate the importance of Shirat Hayam. It represented a moment of the highest spiritual heights. Indeed, the rabbis established that we would recite neither the Shema nor the Amidah without introducing them with words of the Shira. The conclusion of the seder with the words “Leshanah Habah B’yerushalai’im” and the conclusion of the festival with Shirat Hayam indicate the amazing spiritual aspiration of Pesah.

Yet despite the celebration of such spiritual greatness, or perhaps because of it, I would like to focus this d’var Torah on the five verses that follow the Shira and conclude our Torah reading on Read More >

Shabbat, the 7th Day of Pesah – 5781Rabbi Jeffrey Segelman2022-07-29T11:24:21-04:00

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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