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 […]
A Five-Year-Old’s Friend, Ukraine, and Our Extra Shabbat Souls
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Dear friends, I’ve been sitting for a while with the events of the last week — the confirmation of the deaths of hostages: the Bibas children, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, ages four years and nine months when kidnapped; and their mother, Shiri; alongside peace activist Oded Lifshitz — may their memories […]
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: […]
The Power of Community in Challenging Moments
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar I had hoped this week to simply share with you the D’var Torah I delivered this past Friday night to welcome our 61 new member households who joined over the past year, on the experience of entering a new community, and on the importance, in Jewish tradition, of welcoming and togetherness. […]