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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 Jo David Korah Wasn’t Wrong? For the last six months I’ve been teaching a comparative religion course – “The Religious Experience” – at Berkeley College in Manhattan. The student body at Berkeley is predominantly black, Hispanic, and Christian, with a large number of foreign students, many from Africa. There are very few Jews Read More >

By Rabbi Enid Lader “As you are able, please stand for the Kol Nidre Service…” Kol Nidre…Such powerful words. Words many of us might not understand, but powerful nonetheless. Powerful through the connections… and the feelings… and the memories they invoke. As we enter through the gates of Yom Kippur, Kol Nidre is there almost Read More >

This week's parashah continues the detailed description of the different components of the tabernacle, its vessels, and the priestly vestaments. An interesting theme within Jewish interpretation is the parallel drawn between the Tabernacle, the Holy Temple, and the universe. The following sources trace this idea over a period of a thousand years. They begin with 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 >

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 >