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There is a beautiful place in the Ayalon Valley - west of Jerusalem - just 25 km away. It is called Latrun. The name Latrun may have been derived from “Le Toron des Chevaliers,” the name of a Crusader castle that once stood there. In modern times the hill is best known as the site of an important battle during the 1948 Israeli War of Independence.

We the People, in Covenant with God A D'var Torah for Parashat Mishpatim By Rabbi Len Levin “And these are the rules that you shall set before them.” (Exodus 21:1) Who are the them before whom God instructs Moses to set the rules in this week’s portion? Rashi, following the Talmud (Gittin 88b), interprets this Read More >

The “New” Tribes of Israel A D'var Torah for Parashat Bemidbar By Rabbi Irwin Huberman ('10) Over the centuries, there has been much debate and speculation regarding the fate of the twelve tribes of Israel. In recent years, with the advent of such genealogy programs as Ancestry.com and 23andMe, there has been considerable interest within Read More >

AJR accepts high caliber students and produces exceptional clergy who serve in all types of Jewish communities. Our Placement Offices supports our alumni and students, at all stages of their education, to find the right position in which they can flourish. We are extremely proud that in the past decade, in all years but Read More >

Rachel Edri served tea and Moroccan cookies to Hamas terrorists carrying grenades until police stormed her house in the south of Israel and rescued her on October 7, 2023. After an early-morning air raid siren, Rachel and her husband returned from a bomb shelter in her hometown of Ofakim to find a band of Hamas militants in her living room.

The Bitter and the Sweet A D’var Torah for Parashat Shemini By Rabbi Greg Schindler ('09) Most of us are familiar with the concept of a hyperlink. Case in point: hyperlink. When you click on a hyperlink, you begin a journey connecting the idea on the page to a related concept. Quite the innovation, right? Yes, indeed. The hyperlinks embedded in the Read More >

Rabbi Margaret Frisch Klein The new year we began just last week stretches before us like an empty canvas and we pause to reflect before it. What are we going to paint on it this year? What will we write upon it? How do we make a difference with our lives? What really matters? It Read More >

Mountain, Field and House By Rabbi Yehonatan Chipman "How awesome is this place! This is naught but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven . . ." (Gen 28:17 This week's parashah describes Yaakov's unexpected and numinous encounter with God, en route from his home to the unknown land of his Read More >

Parashat Beha’alotekha By Barbara Rosenthal Birnbaum Until I learned the methods and strategies of feminist reading of the Bible, I would avoid rereading narratives such as the one about Miriam at the end of this week’s parashah -Beha’alotekha. This story (Numbers 12) is complex. It engenders many questions. It is fascinating.  But it always made Read More >

by Rabbi Len Levin Moses: A Leader with a Small Ego A Dvar Torah for Vayikra There are two peculiarities in the opening of Leviticus that elude the English reader. The first is that the first clause is missing a subject. Vayikra el Moshe -- “and he called to Moses.” Who called? The kabbalists suppose Read More >