What’s So Special About Aaron?
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar This past week was Parashat Chukat, the Torah portion from the Book of Be’midbar (known in English as the Book of Numbers, but which literally translates to “In the Wilderness”), in which, as part of the prolonged wanderings in the wilderness, Aaron, the High Priest and elder brother of Moses, dies. “[When] the whole community knew […]
Being Grateful for Being In Service
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar This past week’s parashah (torah portion) Korah is famous for the rebellion that takes place in its opening verses: Korah is the name of a dissatisfied Levite tribesman who feels that too much power has accrued in the hands of Moses and Aaron, and therefore seeks more power for himself. (I discussed it extensively in […]
The Seismic Week That Was
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Since the last time I composed a D’var Torah (effectively, sermon) to this community, on June 16, the following seismic events have taken place: in chronological order, An earthquake struck southeast Afghanistan killing approximately one thousand people; The Supreme Court limited the ability of states to pass legislation prohibiting people from carrying handguns in […]
Uniqueness Does Not Equal Significance; and More Ways of Exploring Torah
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Not every Torah portion has us hanging on the edge of our seat with cliffhangers or narrative tension. In fact, while considered a holy document, the text of the Torah can oftentimes feel quite… mundane. So it was in this past week’s portion, Naso, whose title refers to a census the Israelites […]
Guns, Continued.
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Dear Friends, I can’t believe—or, perhaps by now I can—that I’m writing about gun violence for my weekly D’var Torah for the third time in four weeks, this time for a mass shooting that took place in, essentially, the synagogue’s literal own backyard, and thus, effectively, many of your own backyards, at approximately 3rd and South […]