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By Yechiel Buchband As we open our portions, we may expect to find the common phrase 'Adonai spoke to Moses, saying . . .' But we get a new addition to that phrase: 'VaY'daber Adonai el-Moshe b'Har-Sinai Laymor' (Lev. 25:1). We might well wonder, weren't all these many mitzvot in Sefer VaYikra spoken on/at/near Mt. Read More >

By Rabbi Eric Hoffman Someone was leading worship in the presence of the Talmudic sage Rabbi Chanina. In the Avot benediction he extended the string of adjectives for Ha-Eyl: 'the God, the great, the heroic, the awesome, the mighty, the strong, the fearless . . .' and on he went. Rabbi Chanina waited until he Read More >

By Eleanor Pearlman The first verse of Parashat Shoftim (Deut. 16:18) sets a tone of much of what follows in the parashah: 'Shoftim v'shotrim teiten l'kha b'khol sh`arekha Asheir Adonai Elohekha notein l'kha-lish'vatekha V'shaftu et ha-`am mishpat tzedeq' 'Judges and officers shall you appoint in all your cities- Which HaShem your God, gives you-for your Read More >

By Yechiel Buchband I have long loved the saga of Yosef in Sefer B'reshit. For me, the most beloved person in the story is Yehuda. I love his story of personal development, growth and redemption, which serves as a beautiful counterpoint to the story of Yosef. Early on he took a leading role in the Read More >

By Rabbi David Greenstein According to traditional enumerations of the mitzvoth (commandments) in the Torah, our portion includes 74 ordinances, more than any other portion. These mitzvoth encompass the full range of the Torah's concerns for how we are to meet the challenge of our paradoxical beings, made up, as we are, of both physical Read More >

By Rabbi Emily Korzenik Very early in the portion, Ki Tavo presents the Torah as familiar and beloved. My father was wandering Aramean and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there, few in number; and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous. And the Egyptians dealt ill with us, and afflicted us Read More >

By Bruce Alpert A number of years ago, I was part of a synagogue committee that evaluated the then new, gender-neutral edition of the Reform movement's Gates of Prayer. The new siddur offered revised versions of several of the older book's Kabbalat Shabbat services. One change ' having nothing to do with gender issues ' Read More >

What Will You Be Wearing? By Peg Kershenbaum I remember how my brother and I used to get new clothes for the holidays: something new for Rosh Ha-Shanah and something else new for Pesah (by which time we would have grown). It was difficult for my mother to pick out clothes that would fit us Read More >

By Rabbi Malka Drucker We wander through life searching for bridges to move us closer to each other and nearer to God. Parashat Ha'azinu shows us how to build bridges between heaven and earth while being, itself, as the last portion of the year, a bridge between the end and the beginning. Its very form, Read More >

Stepping Outside of Our Comfort Zones By Hayley Mica Siegel Almost as much as the Jew looks forward to Shabbat after a busy week, it is certain that the entire Jewish community lets out a collective sigh of relief during the celebration of Sukkot. After ten days of praying, fasting, repenting, and reflecting, we shift Read More >