Shabbat Zachor, the Shabbat of Remembrance: Reflections on a Challenging New Year in Israel
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, and human, existence, but Shabbat Zachor, at least on the face of it, refers to a very specific, and somewhat challenging, memory. It comes from a few verses in the Book […]
Solace for the Eagles Fans
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar With all the challenges in the world it may seem frivolous to open up my weekly D’var Torah with a missive about the Philadelphia Eagles, but, if the Inquirer’s front page headlines are any indication, that is where our community members’ hearts are. Tuesday’s headline was “Philly’s Super Sadness: In a […]
What Covenant Can Mean To Us • Boundaries, People!
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar I want to share the D’var Torah I delivered this past Friday night on the week’s parashah, on the eve of our student Alex Howe’s Bar mitzvah: I was drawn to a very specific part of this week’s parashah, this week’s Torah portion. Perhaps you’ll be able to sense why. First […]
Earthquake Response
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar What a devastating week it’s been around the world. The numbers of dead and missing coming out of Turkey and Syria as a result of the earthquakes there are overwhelming. At the time of this writing the death toll has surpassed 15,000, with many more injured, missing, stranded in the cold. […]
Refugee Shabbat • Song of the Sea
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar I know I say this to all the B’nei Mitzvah students, Yul, but you really have a special parashah. So much so that your shabbat has a special name—Shabbat Shirah, the Shabbat of Song. Named, of course, after Shirat Hayam, the Song of the Sea—the most visibly noteworthy part of the […]