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Hanukkah: In Praise Of The Righteous Gentile By Irwin Huberman Often at this time of the year, it feels as if the entire world is enveloped in darkness. Daylight is at a premium. Cold air chills our bones. And especially during these times of economic challenge, there is no shortage of cynicism in the world. Read More >

The Moment of Impact By Cantor Marcia Lane   In his book, The Tipping Point, Malcom Gladwell describes the moment when a situation changes, the small thing that had a big impact on a problem or a situation. In this week's parashah we come to the moment in a long narrative when life will change Read More >

The Future - A Sealed Book? Rabbi Len Levin If you were handed a sealed envelope that you had reason to believe contained an infallible prediction of the future course of your life -- or of the world's political history of the next twenty years -- would you open it? This week's portion Vayehi is Read More >

By Professor Jerome Chanes The opening chapters of the Book of Exodus relate a narrative that is strange, not in its story, but in its telling; it is a book that begins V'eleh shemot, "And these are the names . . .," but there are no names! There are names of the Jacob's family who Read More >

By Rabbi Aryeh Meir The previous parashah ends with the failure of Moshe's first attempt to free the Israelites from Egyptian bondage. Moshe reiterates his earlier doubts about his ability to lead saying, "for what reason have you sent me... You have not rescued your people!" (Exodus 5:22-23). God then repeats the promise made at Read More >

By Rabbi Allen Darnov Parashat Bo announces: "This month (Nissan) shall mark for you the beginning of the months; it shall be the first of the months of the year for you...." (Exod 12:2). This sounds, of course, as if the Torah is commanding a New Year's festival to be observed in the spring. Should Read More >

By Rabbi/Cantor Anne Heath There were no auditions!! There were no judges!! That's right. You heard it here first. When Moses and the Israelites sang on the shores of the sea (Exodus 15:1) and when Miriam and all the women danced with hand-drums (Exodus 15:20) no leader said, "why don't you just mouth the words," Read More >

By Rabbi Bruce Alpert As our world grows more secular, the questions I am asked about my faith grow more sophisticated. People used to ask me whether I believed in God. Given my choice of profession, the answer to that one strikes most as obvious. So now I am asked instead whether I believe in Read More >

Getting by with a Little Help from our Friends By Rabbi Peggy Berman de Prophetis Parashat Mishpatim presents us with information overload-rules, rules, and more rules. And even though the Israelites promise that "all that the Lord has spoken we will do and obey" (Ex. 24:7), they sometimes need reminding, for they are no more Read More >

By Rabbi Greg Schindler “You’re not listening to me, are you? The words cut me to the quick. I, in fact, have no idea what was being said for the last minute or so. We’ve all been there — a family member or friend is talking to us, and what are we doing? We are Read More >