Rabbi Kamesar's Divrei Torah on Israel

by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar It’s been a head-spinning time in world events. Last week we witnessed the capture of Venezuela’s President in a US military

by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar   It’s hard to put to words the experience of relief many of us are feeling in response to the release

by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar When I have the time and space, I try to share with you my own personal wrestlings regarding two interrelated dynamics

by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar I write on the heels of a head-spinning week in the news: in the span of seven days, we had an

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

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

by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar     This past Shabbat we studied Parashat Masei, which means something like “travels” or “stages”. It is the last portion

by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Dear Friends, I wanted to share just briefly a bit about the mentality I’m holding each week when I write about

by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Dear Friends, Each week I reflect, professionally, on a couple of fronts: for Friday nights, I try to write in a

We just got finished celebrating beautiful, if painful, Passover Seders in our homes and in community.
I wanted to begin by sharing the words with which I opened our Seder here at Society Hill Synagogue, with over 150 people across the generations crammed warmly in our social hall:

By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Dear Friends, I joined over 290,000 people at the National Mall in Washington DC on Tuesday for the March for Israel,

By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Each week I wrestle anew with the events unfolding in Israel, Gaza, and around the globe, thinking about them in different

By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Each week, I struggle with the events in Israel, Gaza, and around the globe. And when I say struggle, I really

By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar I said above that I had some additional thoughts to share on the war, evolving as they may be as events

By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Dear Friends, It goes without saying how heavy a toll this month has taken: on our souls, our spirits, our psyches—to

By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Dear Friends, What a horrendous week and a half it has been in Israel, Gaza, and around the world. We mourn

By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar SINGULAR MOMENT IN ISRAEL As we now know, what took place this past Shabbat and Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah holiday in Israel

By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Starting Wednesday night and continuing through Thursday, we honor Tishah B’Av, the ninth day of the Jewish month of Av, the date which

By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Dear Friends, I just got back from a brief vacation in Portland, Oregon where Caroline and I attended my sister’s wedding,

By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Yom Hazikaron – Memorial Day This evening, Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day, (whose full official name is Yom Hazikaron Lehalelei Ma’arkhot

By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Dear Friends, I write this week in part to speak up about what I see as a dayeinu moment in Tennessee. Dayenu is of course

By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Dear Friends, What a week it’s been in Israel. We are in the midst of marking the 75th anniversary of the

By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar This Shabbat is a special Shabbat known as Shabbat Zachor, the Shabbat of memory. Now, that can encompass many features of Jewish,

By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Today marks Yom Ha’atzmaut, Independence Day in Israel, coming on the heels of Yom Hazikaron, shorthand for Yom HaZikaron LeHalalei Ma’arakhot Yisrael ul’Nifge’ei Pe’ulot

By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar What a tragic and disconcerting week it’s been in Israel, a place so deeply held in so many of our hearts. Not