A Bar Mitzvah’s Reflections on Abundance and Scarcity

By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar This past Shabbat, we celebrated the Bar Mitzvah of Aldo. Aldo’s parashah (Torah portion) was Toldot. Toldot literally means something like “lineage;” it is related to the common Hebrew words yeled and yaldah, which mean boy and girl, respectively, and which come from the root י-ל-ד, which means to give birth. In the context of Aldo’s parashah, whose first […]
Finding the Sacred Invitations within the Mistakes — a Teaching by our Bat Mitzvah

By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Returning to our practice of reflecting back on the Torah offered at this past week’s Shabbat services, we’re fortunate to be able to share the Torah offered by this past week’s Bat Mitzvah celebrant, Clara. Clara’s Torah portion was Noah, that foundational story that articulates the ebb and flow of humanity, […]