Rabbi Uri Lam | Temple Beth-El, São Paulo, Brazil “See, this day I set before you blessing and curse.” (Deut. 11:26) Last week I met four young Jews with the intention of creating a new group in my congregation for young adults. One of their very first positions is that religious activities must come together […]
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Is interrupting kosher? | Parashat Tazria-Metzora
When you hear that someone has lung cancer, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? I am embarrassed to admit it, but my mind…
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The Mitzvah of Gratitude | Parashat Ekev
Rabbi Neal I. Borovitz Parshat Ekev teaches us a transcendent lesson of Jewish living. Long before day-planners, computers and smart phones, with calendars and apps that reminder us constantly of what we are supposed to be doing, the Rabbinic interpretation of the Torah enabled Jews to schedule our lives, “by Jewish time” and thereby remind […]
Read MoreDo We Ever Reach The Promised Land? | Parashat Va’etchanan
Rabbi Harry Rosenfeld| Congregation Albert, Albuquerque, New Mexico Va’etchanan begins with Moses’ lamenting to the people that because of his action of disobeying God at the Waters of Bitterness God punished him by not allowing him to enter the land of Canaan (see Parashat Chukat, Num. 20.) Moses would not see his efforts beginning in […]
Read MoreVisions for Jerusalem | Parashat Devarim
Rabbi Dr. Ulrike Offenberg | Juedische Gemeinde Hameln, DEU Legend has it that Napoleon was once riding through Paris (others say: through Vilna) when he heard crying and lamenting voices from a synagogue he was passing. He had his entourage inquire what had happened and they brought back the message that the Jews were mourning about […]
Read MoreFairness Awareness | Parashat Matot-Masei
Rabbi Becky Hoffman | Associate Rabbi and Religious School Director, Temple Kol Tikvah, Woodland Hills, CA Is fairness learned or is it innate? In a study of capuchin monkeys, Professor Frans de Waal showed that monkeys understand the concept of fairness[1]. In the experiment, he placed 2 monkeys in clear cages side by side. The […]
Read MoreHow “Peace, order and good government” Trump | Parashat Pinchas
Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Rabbi Jeffrey Ableser | Temple Beth El of Flint, Michigan, USA Why would an eighteen verse story in BeMidbar be cut in half and read over two Torah portions? Our Torah portion, Pinchas, is problematic for a number of reasons. It starts out with the grandson of […]
Read MoreTruth to Power | Parashat Balak
In today’s day and age, it is almost trite to talk about the power of words. Trite, because unless you’ve been living under a rock, this generation can communicate the most trivial of things to the farthest reaches of the world in the blink of an eye.
Read MoreDealing with death | Parashat Chukat
Most people I know would say that death is frightening. While Judaism has notions of afterlife, these are not emphasized. However, we do have extensive literature on the mourning process.
Read MoreGrowing Towards Redemption | Shabbat Torah Reading for Passover
What is the single most important thing we can have at our Passover table?My father would argue that it is my late Bubbe’s Wine Cake. When I was little, I might have said that it was the maror to go on top of the gefilte fish. A gardener might focus on the karpas, with its greenery and symbols of spring. My rabbinic colleagues might say it is the Matzah.
Read MoreCompassion Fatigue and the Exodus from Egypt | Parashat Beshalach
In Australia we speak of “Eureka!” moments: moments when something crystallizes in the mind, when vague thoughts that have been floating about suddenly come together to provide an insight that wasn’t there previously. I had this kind of Eureka! moment as I sat down to prepare the drash on this week’s sidra Beshalach. I realized that much […]
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