Everybody comes to meetings more tired than they used to.
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Would you rather hear an audio recording of Rabbi Nathan Kamesar giving this D’var Torah? Listen here! Scrawled out on a notepad on my desk there is a note which says, “everybody comes to meetings more tired than they used to.” It was an observation made by Rabbi David […]
The Torah of the Material and Spiritual
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar I’m thinking this week about the distinction between the material and the spiritual. Before I go further I should probably define the word spiritual. Depending on your sensibility, the word can either be a turn-off or an invitation to explore; something to which you say, no thank you or yes please. […]
Purim & Yom HaKip-Purim — Two Holidays of Compassion
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar I confess, I struggle a lot with the holiday whose eve we have reached: the holiday of Purim — the holiday that celebrates the story of Esther, the Jewish Queen, who upends the plan of the murderous Haman, who, in the ancient persian court, sought to have all the Jews […]
The Sacred Art of Listening
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar When I introduce the shema, that central call of Jewish tradition, I often say it is the call to listen—to listen to the one-ness that underlies and connects all of life. In some ways, that understates the case for the centrality of the act of listening in Jewish tradition. My teacher […]
What does Judaism say about the afterlife?
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar I am so glad we were able to have a scholar-in-residence last Shabbat on the topic of Jewish beliefs in the afterlife. Here is what I shared on Friday night to help frame our learning: This need sparked for me at a funeral I officiated for a congregant’s elderly father a […]