Affirming We are “My Brother’s Keeper” When we hear a candidate for public office deny the Jewish People their eternal right to the land of Israel and the Zionist dream of building and maintaining a Jewish State among the comity… Read More »
Moses wants to stir hearts as he recites poetry that reminds the Children of Israel that God is forever just and the source of moral authority in our lives. God is forever your touchstone and torch he tells Israel. Transgress… Read More »
Shabbat Shuvah takes its name from the haftarah’s chorus of return, שובה ישראל, weaving Hosea, Joel, and Micah into a single call. In the eighth-century BCE, Hosea warned Judea not to follow the northern kingdom into Assyrian collapse. Assyria’s imperial… Read More »
D’var Torah PARASHAT NITZAVIM & PREPARE FOR HIGH HOLY DAYS WITH MELODY REMINDERS BELOW “וְשַׁבְתָּ עַד ה׳ אֱ-לֹהֶיךָ” – “And you shall return to the Lord your God” (Deut. 30:2). As we reach the last Shabbat of the year, Parashat… Read More »
PARASHAT KI TAVO And you shall rejoice in all the good which the Lord your God has given you and your house — you, and the Levite, and the stranger(?) that is among you.” (Devarim/Deuteronomy 26:11) The Levites were Temple… Read More »
PARASHAT KI TETZE This week’s haftarah (Isaiah 54:1–10) continues the cycle of the shiv’ah d’nechemta—the “seven haftarot of consolation” after Tisha B’Av. The prophet Isaiah brings us a vision of compassion and kindness as God promises never again to abandon… Read More »
PARASHAT SHOFTIM The Profound Duty of Witnessing In this week’s parashah, Shoftim, we encounter a significant exploration of justice, governance, and the critical role of witnesses in a just society. The Torah states in Deuteronomy 19:15: לֹא-יָקוּם עֵד אֶחָד בְּאִישׁ,… Read More »
The Sacred Art of the Small Stuff & the Minute Detail The opening verse of Parshat Eikev states: “וְהָיָה עֵקֶב תִּשְׁמְעוּן אֵת הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים הָאֵלֶּה” – “And it shall be, because (eikev) you hearken to these ordinances…” (Deuteronomy 7:12) Rashi, with… Read More »
Shabbat Nachamu – Two Pathways to Comfort This Shabbat, the first after Tisha B’Av, is known as Shabbat Nachamu, the “Sabbath of Comfort,” named for the opening words of the Haftarah from Isaiah: נַחֲמוּ נַחֲמוּ עַמִּי, יֹאמַר אֱלֹקֵיכֶם – “Comfort,… Read More »
Telling Old Stories, Rebuilding Our Lives Parshat Devarim opens with a powerful act of sacred storytelling. Moses gathers the next generation—the children of those who left Egypt—and begins to retell the story of their people’s journey through the wilderness. But… Read More »