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Connecting with God By Marian Kleinman In the story of the sacrifice of Isaac we read on Rosh HaShanah, the sacrifice asked of Abraham can be explored as symbolic of relationships such as the relationship between ourselves and God. In today’s society, individuals are frowned upon or shunned if they tell others they are “hearing Read More >

By Rabbi Margaret Frisch-Klein Sitting in a private bathroom stall on Rosh Hashanah at the synagogue, I notice a sign for a hotline for domestic abuse. At first I am saddened that we need such signs. Then I am relieved that we are beginning to acknowledge that domestic abuse happens even in the Jewish community. Read More >

By Rabbi Alan Abraham Kay As I write this D’var Torah, “The falling leaves drift by my window, the autumn leaves of red and gold” and I hum the Frank Sinatra song and thank God for giving us daylight and nightlight and four seasons. I re-read the verse from Parashat Noah, “So long as the Read More >

By Rabbi Enid Lader “Adonai appeared to him in the terebinths of Mamre, while he was sitting in the entrance of the tent in the heat of the day” (Gen. 18:1). Through Rashi’s commentary on this verse, we learn that God’s appearance before Abraham was an act of bikkur holim – visiting the sick, and that Read More >

By Simcha Raphael I imagine it was a crystal clear desert night in Haran. Standing under a glittering band of stars adorning ancient Mesopotamian skies, Abram son of Terah suddenly heard a beckoning voice: Abram! Go forth from your native land, from your birthplace, from your father's house to the land that I will show Read More >

By Cantor Jaclyn Chernett   Traditionally, in Kol Nefesh, our little shul in London, this sedra marks the annual celebration for our Hevra Kadisha, when we study and have a meal together. The Hevra Kadisha it is, literally, a Sacred Society that, among other things, ritually prepares bodies of those who have died, for their Read More >

Don’t Forget the Lentils By Rabbi Katy Z. Allen What about the lentils? “Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the open, famished. And Esau said to Jacob, ‘Give me some of that red stuff to gulp down, for I am famished’- which is why he was named Edom. Jacob said, Read More >

By Susan Elkodsi   "And Jacob left Beersheva, and he went to Haran. And he arrived at the place and lodged there because the sun had set" (Gen. 28:10-11). The term bashert is often used when speaking about falling in love, or when something happens that we truly feel was "meant to be." We read that Jacob Read More >

By Miriam Herscher   "I am Jacob. I am going home, and I am anxious and scared. "I have been away for twenty years. I have not spoken to nor seen my brother or parents in all that time. We parted under horrendous circumstances. I cheated my brother, with the help of my mother, and Read More >

By Rabbi Andrea Myers   Years ago, I took a road trip to Cincinnati to do research at the archives of Hebrew Union College. It was my first time away from home since our daughter Ariella had been born four years before. In preparation for my departure, my partner Lisa asked me whether I needed Read More >