Pain, Heartbreak, and the Voices of our Parents
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar This week’s parashah is action packed. It begins with our ancestor Jacob preparing to meet his twin brother Esau for the first time since Jacob deceived their father Isaac and stole the sacred blessing from him; it also includes that seminal moment in Israelite history when Jacob wrestled with […]
The Return of Hostages: Where Do We Go From Here?
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Dear Friends, This has been both an inspiring and continuously heartbreaking week; the latter word—heartbreaking—I’ve been using so often lately as to put it in danger of becoming trite, and yet that is the effect of the images we see pouring out of Israel and Gaza week after week. […]
How We Show Up For Each Other
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar I have the privilege now of offering some words of Torah, reflecting on the same parashah, the same Torah portion Bjorn will speak about tomorrow, as he shares with you all, his community, his process of Yisrael — of wrestling with God, as that word means, wrestling with God’s words as […]
What Do Rainbows Have To Do With This?
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar My four year old daughter Lila loves rainbows. The theme of her fourth birthday—I didn’t know birthdays have to have themes, but according to my wife they do—was rainbows. Her favorite dress is her rainbow dress, her favorite shoes are her rainbow shoes—one day I brought her home “rainbow sparkle gummies,” […]
Solace for the Eagles Fans
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar With all the challenges in the world it may seem frivolous to open up my weekly D’var Torah with a missive about the Philadelphia Eagles, but, if the Inquirer’s front page headlines are any indication, that is where our community members’ hearts are. Tuesday’s headline was “Philly’s Super Sadness: In a […]