HaMakom Yenahem: Seeking Comfort, Seeking Peace
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar I woke up this morning to my wife sharing the news with me about the shooting and killing of two Israeli Embassy aides, Sarah Milgrim, 26, and Yaron Lischinsky, 30, outside the Capital Jewish Museum in downtown Washington DC last night. Lischinsky had purchased an engagement ring with which to propose […]
Honoring Memory, Embracing Purpose
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar I write this on Yom Ha’atzma’ut, Israel’s Independence Day, which immediately follows Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day. Israel’s commemoration of these two days is strikingly different from their equivalents here in the United States: for starters, by connecting them on consecutive days, Israel is signaling the extent to which, over the […]
Are We All Idol Worshipers?
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar This Shabbat is Shabbat Ki Tisa, Ki Tisa being the parashah, the Torah portion, with one of the most well known, or perhaps I should say notorious, episodes of the Israelites’ wilderness wanderings: the story of the golden calf. The basics of the story are straightforward: When the people saw that […]
Purim Pushes us Out of our Comfort Zone — and Why That’s Holy
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Hag Purim same’ah — a joyous and festive Purim holiday! See below for a teaching I offered Friday night on the spiritual importance of pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones every once in a while, an experience which Purim facilitates. What follows is the Purim drash I delivered this past […]
Standing at the Shore Together
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Dear Friends, It was fun for our community to get profiled this week in the Jewish Exponent! I hope you’ll check it out and share. Meanwhile, I wanted to share with you the D’var Torah I offered this past Shabbat on the eve of long-time member Evan Schwartz Chrismer becoming Bar Mitzvah: […]