It is the Shabbat before the seder! It is time to infuse meaning into our Passover practices. Join me for Shabbat morning services where I will present a specially created text-study based teaching sermon called: Crumbs & Corruption: Let’s Get… Read More »
Parashat Vayikra We begin the Book of Leviticus this Shabbat, and many of us feel it. The prescriptions for animal offerings, the blood dashed on the altar, the careful choreography of priestly service — it is easy to feel like… Read More »
The sin of the Golden Calf was a profound moment of betrayal in the Jewish narrative, highlighting a breakdown in the relationship between the people and God. This moment of crisis is not merely an event but an invitation for… Read More »
Parashat Ki Tisa – Shabbat Parah The Golden Calf, the Mob, and the Sacred Balance: A Warning Across the Millennia I. A Wall That Belongs to All of Us Let me begin with a memory. It is the spring of… Read More »
Clear and Cloudy is Jewish Faith Parashat Tetzaveh opens and closes with two sacred acts, and at first glance they seem to be disconnected. Plus, we might say, that it is difficult to find meaning in the Torah portions that… Read More »
Our Homes – Reflections of Both the Tabernacle and the Temple (The Mishkan and the Mikdash) What does it mean to build a sanctuary? Parashat Terumah opens not with walls, but with furnishings — the Ark, the Table, the Menorah… Read More »
Answering Antisemitism: Jewish Offense and Defense The juxtaposition is jarring. Parashat Mishpatim opens with the words “וְאֵלֶּה הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים אֲשֶׁר תָּשִׂים לִפְנֵיהֶם” – “And these are the laws that you shall set before them” (Exodus 21:1). Immediately following the revelation at… Read More »
Parashat Yitro From Parashat Beshalach through Yitro to Mishpatim and beyond, the Exodus launches the Jewish People on a forty-year journey of wandering, camping, and growing in the wilderness. The Torah’s main messages about our lives as Jewish Americans emerge… Read More »
This Sabbath, our tradition calls out to us: let the music of the Jewish people fill our souls! It is Shabbat Shirah—the Sabbath of Song. We commemorate the moment when the Children of Israel crossed the Sea of Reeds. Standing… Read More »
Here is the Parashat Bo question for the week: Was there a time when doing something together with someone led you to deeper understanding of yourself? Moses went together with God to challenge Pharoah; he discovered the true leader in… Read More »