A Bar Mitzvah Scheduled for the Week It All Went Down
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar This past week we celebrated the Bar Mitzvah of Sam Marion. Similar to the many retrospectives circulating in the news this week about one year ago when everything changed, Sam’s Bar Mitzvah was originally scheduled exactly one year ago this past week. A mere 48 hours before his Bar Mitzvah celebration […]
Pride in Our Capacity for Holiness
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar This past week in studying Parashat Tetzaveh, the Torah portion which means “you shall instruct”, we encounter God telling Moses to instruct the Israelites how to put the finishing touches on the construction of the tabernacle, that portable sanctuary in the wilderness that would serve as the symbol of God’s presence in their […]
Withdrawal as a Form of Love
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar This past week during Shabbat services (10 am prayer and song; 10:45 Torah study, every week at this link) we studied Parashat Terumah, the Torah portion known as Terumah which means gifts—Adonai, the Source of All Existence, invites the Israelites to bring gifts, “And let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them” […]
Finding Wholeness in Brokenness
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar This past week during Shabbat services (10 am prayer and song; 10:45 Torah study, every week at this link) we studied Parashat Mishpatim, the Torah portion known as Mishpatim which means rules or enactments—a fitting title because this is the point in our Torah where the majority of the text shifts from narrative to law. Judaism […]
What Happened at Sinai and How It Impacts Us
By Rabbi Nathan Kamesar This past week on Shabbat we encountered that sacred moment in our Torah when the Israelites find themselves at the base of Mt. Sinai, about to enter the eternal covenant with the Source of All Existence. Every imaginable sensation takes place to set the scene for this moment. “[A]s morning dawned, […]