Stephen Cohen’s Malkhuyot
2nd Day Rosh Hashana 5785 A discussion on malkhuyot, God’s sovereignty, is part of the Rosh Hashana canon, as Talmud Rosh Hashana 16a:15 records. Rabbi Yehuda said in the name of Rabbi Akiva: וְאִמְרוּ לְפָנַי בְּרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה מַלְכִיּוֹת זִכְרוֹנוֹת וְשׁוֹפָרוֹת V’imru l’fanai b’rosh hashana malkhiyot “And recite before Me on Rosh HaShana verses that mention […]
One Thing I Ask
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar This past week, as part of our celebrating our first Bat Mitzvah of the year (Mazal Tov, Madeleine Wilson!), I shared the following D’var Torah: In a few moments, we’re going to sing a verse of a psalm that anchors us in the season in which we find ourselves, […]
Who We Are
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar I want to start by sharing the remarks I shared at this past week’s Open House Shabbat, where our building welcomed hundreds of people over the course of Friday night and Saturday morning. It was truly an inspiring return to our weekly rhythms of Friday night musical services and […]
Bearing Witness to Heartbreak — Reflections on the War’s Toll
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar This has been a brutal week for the Jewish people. Six hostages, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Almog Sarusi, and Alexander Lobanov, individuals whom we had gotten to know through accounts by their loved ones, were murdered by Hamas in the tunnels of Gaza, executed just hours […]
Chosenness, Conflict, and a Path Forward
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar This past Shabbat we began the final book of the Torah, Sefer Devarim, the Book of Deuteronomy. The word “Deuteronomy” comes from a Greek translation of the phrase “Repetition of the Torah”, which is in a sense a fitting name for this final Book, because it largely consists of Moses, […]