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By Rabbi Dorit Edut "Sh'ma Yisrael - Listen O Israel..." Moses recites these lines in this week's Torah portion at the end of his life. For us, these are usually the first Hebrew words we learn, and we are taught to say them twice daily, morning and evening, on holidays, special occasions, and even before Read More >

Gratitude to God, Source of Our Wealth By Rabbi Len Levin "Beware lest your heart grow haughty...and you say to yourselves, 'My own power and the might of my own hand have won this wealth for me.' Remember that it is the Lord your God who gives you the power to get wealth..." (Deuteronomy 8:14-18). Read More >

Expanding Spiritual Consciousness By Rabbi Bob Freedman In Parashat Va'ethanan we are told that even when we are exiles scattered among peoples who worship gods of wood and stone, "If you search there for YHVH your God you will find God, if you seek with all your heart and all your soul" (4:29). One can Read More >

By Rabbi Judith Edelstein Within the last few weeks I, and most likely many of you, have been barraged with email messages asking for donations to the presidential campaign. Initially I read the messages with a skeptical eye, planning to contribute a minimal amount at some future date. However, after viewing notes of alarm in Read More >

by Rabbi Isaac Mann Parashat Ki Tetze is replete with laws and regulations, some of which are found elsewhere in the Torah and some of which are partially or completely new. It would appear that the section towards the end of the parashah (Deut. 25:13-16) that deals with honest weights and measures is of the Read More >

In this week's Torah portion we are witness to a grand ritual - a dramatization depicting the landscape of choices within which we all reside, at all times. One half of the Israelite tribes are told to stand on Mt. Gerizim while the other half of the tribes are to stand on Mt. Ebal. Between Read More >

Many Little Things-One Big Thing By Rabbi Len Levin "May all Your creatures unite in a single band, to perform Your will wholeheartedly" (from the Uv'khen prayer in the Yom Kippur Amidah). Jewish thought is a rich network of debates on fundamental issues. I was fortunate to be able to work with Rabbi Gordon Tucker Read More >

By Rabbi Isaac Mann In this D'var Torah I would like to expand upon an interesting insight into the character of Shemini Atzeret based on a teaching that I heard from my beloved teacher Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, of blessed memory, affectionately referred to by his students as "the Rav." Rabbi Soloveitchik addressed the rather Read More >

The Story of Creation By Rabbi Judith Edelstein For rabbis and cantors - as well as for many congregants who are involved in synagogue life, this is the most challenging and stressful time of year. No sooner have we rabbis concluded our Academy Award winning soliloquies and day of starvation than we have to change Read More >

Testament for Universal Humanity By Rabbi Len Levin The Portion of Noah concludes the Torah's universalistic preamble to the narrative of the Jewish people. Though clearly written from a Jewish perspective, it nowhere mentions Israel or Jewry. Abram and Sarai are mentioned at the very end, as among the descendants of the line of Shem, Read More >