“Your People Are My People”
I’m writing to share the D’var Torah I delivered this past Friday night when we hosted our Scholar-in-Residence, Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld, who offered incredible teachings Friday and Saturday. I gave our scholar-in-residence this Shabbat carte blanche to select a topic to teach about, a right she has earned both by dint of her remarkable […]
Shabbat of… the Cow?
I’m writing to share with you the teaching I delivered this past Shabbat, a Shabbat which called upon us to begin spiritually opening ourselves in preparation for the Pesah (Passover) holiday: There are nine special Shabbatot, special Sabbaths, sprinkled throughout the Jewish year that receive their own name because of special rituals or readings associated […]
Are We All Idol Worshipers?
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 Moses was so long […]
Purim Pushes us Out of our Comfort Zone — and Why That’s Holy
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 Friday night: We are […]
A Five-Year-Old’s Friend, Ukraine, and Our Extra Shabbat Souls
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 be for a blessing. […]