Reflections on the Donkeys in Our Lives
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar This gives me the opportunity to reflect on the Bat Mitzvah celebration and teaching by our own Hannah Davidson. This past week’s parashah (Torah portion) was Balak. Balak was the name of the King of Moab, an ancient kingdom in present day Jordan, who encountered the Israelites as they marched through the wilderness on […]
Our First In-Person Shabbat—Recognizing the Role of Unpredictability in the Universe
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar What a day this past Shabbat was. It was the first time we gathered as a whole community on Shabbat since March 7, 2020—by my count seventy-one weeks of Shabbat in exile from our beautiful, sacred sanctuary. Now, as we know, in exile doesn’t necessarily mean “lesser than.” Wow, did we hold some beautiful […]
Forming a Relationship to Loss
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar This past shabbat, we studied parashat chukat, a momentous Torah portion featuring the death of Miriam, prophetess and Moses’ sister; the Israelites lashing out at Moses because of their hunger and thirst, and Moses, in turn, striking a rock rather than ordering it to bring forth water, as God had commanded, leading to […]
Being Gentle with Our Inner Rebels
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar This past Shabbat we studied Parashat Korach, the Torah portion known as Korach, the eponymous Israelite who features prominently in the parshah’s opening narrative. Korach is notorious in Jewish tradition, standing in for every impertinent demagogue to follow. The parshah begins with Korach “betaking himself… to rise up against Moses, together with […]
Summing Up the Torah of Our B’nei Mitzvah
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Each of the past two weeks we held meaningful, dynamic Bar Mitzvah services, first, two weeks ago on May 29, led by Jared Eizen, and then, last week on June 4, led by Ezra Goldenberg. Jared’s parashah was called Beha’alotekha, from the Book of Devarim (Numbers). Beha’alotkha literally means, “in your raising up,” referring to the […]