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By Rabbi Jaron Matlow On the Shabbat before Purim we read the special Maftir reminding us of our obligation to FORGET AMALEK. On Shabbat Zakhor, the Sabbath of remembrance, we read (Deuteronomy 25:17-19):Remember what Amalek did to you by the way, when you came forth out of Egypt; how he met you by the way, Read More >

By Rabbi Marc Rudolph And oftentimes excusing of a fault Doth make the fault the worse by the excuse. ~William Shakespeare In this week's parashah, Ki Tissa, the Israelites, under the guidance of Aaron, build a golden calf. When confronted by Moses as to how he could allow the people to engage in such behavior, Read More >

by Rabbi Sanford Olshansky Many American Jews say they don't like ritual. Nevertheless, most of us are creatures of ritual, although we may call it habit.We have rituals for how we begin our day and prepare for work, whether or not we include traditional prayers. Parashat Vayikra, the first portion of the book of Leviticus Read More >

By Rabbi Regina L. Sandler-Phillips WHO S ROBBING GOD? The future of life on earth depends upon whether we among the richest fifth of the world s people, having fully met our material needs, can turn to non-material sources of fulfillment.Alan Durning, How Much Is Enough? (Worldwatch Institute, 1992) Every year, I draw upon an ancient rabbinic Read More >

By Rabbi Heidi Hoover More than a decade ago, shortly after my conversion to Judaism, I was working as a religious school tutor. One day at about this time of year, I was having a conversation with a colleague about Passover, specifically the part of the haggadah that instructs us to say, "God brought us Read More >

By Simcha Raphael, PhD Yizkor - Remembrance of Souls on the Eighth Day of Passover On the eighth day of Passover we recite Yizkor prayers in memory of deceased family members. In our contemporary society, we think of Yizkor as an efficacious bereavement ritual honoring and remembering deceased loved ones. However, underlying the origins of Read More >

Untimely Death and the “Pesikta D’Rav Kahana” By Rabbi Paul Bender Parashat Shemini and its normally coupled Haftarah (II Samuel 6:1-7:17) both contain stories of the unnatural and instantaneous death by God’s hand, of apparently well meaning and respected characters, two sons of Aaron’s and Uzzah. To explain these troubling stories, and justify the deaths Read More >

By Rabbi Eric Milgrim Our Torah is divided into 54 regular parashiyot. In a leap year (7 times in every 19 year cycle) each parashah is read on a separate Shabbat so that the annual cycle of Torah readings are able to come at its proper time. In a “common” year certain parashyot are combined Read More >

By Rabbi Ziona Zelazo Turning Mundane Holiness into Sacred Holiness I often wonder how an esoteric term like “holy” entered our lexicon. People use terms like “Holier than Thou”, “Holy Smokes” or “Holy Cow” all the time. These terms probably have no real meaning to those who use them, other than being a figure of Read More >

Mitzvah, Not Magic By Rabbi Allen Darnov Parashat Emor begins with laws restricting the priests, the sons of Aaron, from contact with the dead: "The Lord said to Moses: Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: None shall defile himself for any (dead) person among his kin" (Lev 21:1). Hizkuni Read More >