Honoring Memory, Embracing Purpose
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar I write this on Yom Ha’atzma’ut, Israel’s Independence Day, which immediately follows Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day. Israel’s commemoration of these two days is strikingly different from their equivalents here in the United States: for starters, by connecting them on consecutive days, Israel is signaling the extent to which, over the […]
Inner Life. Outer Life. Jewish Life.
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar Today is Yom HaShoah, whose formal name is Yom Hazikaron LaShoah Velag’vurah — Remembrance Day of the Holocaust and Heroism. It’s a heartbreaking day each year it comes up, commemorating the Holocaust, the state-sponsored, systematic murder of six million Jews by the Nazis and their collaborators, as well as commemorating the […]
Hazzan Jessi: Connecting the Unconnectable
by Hazzan Jessi Roemer Earlier this week, my friend texted me a question: “Do you think of Tanakh (the canon of Torah, Prophets, and Writings) as Jewish mythology? Akin to Greek or Norse mythology, but with more staying power?” “Hmm,” I answered, “in terms of the stories, yes. But Tanakh is not only theology and […]
Vayikra’s Divine Mystery
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar As we get ready for our Pesah S’darim, our Passover Seders, I’m writing to share the D’var Torah I delivered last week on the range of different ways that Torah conceives of God. In the meantime, I wish you a Hag Pesah Same’ah: May you experience the reminder that we have […]
“Your People Are My People”
by Rabbi Nathan Kamesar 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 […]