Inauguration Day: Teachings from Our Sages
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar I write this weekly d’var torah message on an historic day. For the 46th time in our nation’s nearly 245-year history, we have inaugurated a new leader of our republic, one duly elected by our citizens through millions of sacred acts of democracy. Many observations have been and will be made about this precious […]
Leadership Transitions in Our Sacred Texts
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar What a time to be revisiting our Torah discussion from this past Shabbat, as we do each week. And yet in some ways I think turning to the eternal rhythms of our weekly torah portion, that anchor in our week that steadies us in the most tumultuous of times, is an […]
Wrestling with… the Messiah?
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Happy 2021! May it be a year that lifts our spirits and brings us together. We are returning, after a brief hiatus, to our weekly emailed Divrei Torah (words of Torah) derived from the conversations we hold each week during our Shabbat morning services. (Shabbat morning services start each week at 10 am. Shacharit, […]
The Past Hurts
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar This past Shabbat we studied that ever-troublesome parashah (Torah portion) called Toldot that includes the moment when our ancestor Rebecca overhears that her ailing husband Isaac is preparing to give his final, all-important blessing to the barely-older twin Esau rather than her beloved barely-younger twin Jacob. We read that she quickly takes action: when Isaac […]
In Kindness We Trust
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar This past Shabbat we studied the weekly portion called Hayyei Sarah, meaning “the Life of Sarah,” which begins, notably, with the passing of that foremost matriarch. After her death we encounter a series of episodes in the lives of our ancestors, including Abraham, now a widower, concerned that his and Sarah’s only son, […]