Sermons & Divrei Torah

“When a woman gives birth to a boy, she shall be unclean for seven days, and remain in a state of blood-purification for 33 days.” (Lev. 12:2-4) Double that if she has a girl. What’s going on here? The Torah isn’t a medical handbook, and what’s the difference between...

A story is told that when a gentile came to the great Hillel and said, “Teach me the entire Torah while I stand on one foot,” Hillel replied, “That which is hateful to you, do not do unto others. All the rest is commentary. Now go and learn!” The Torah also commands...

  Excerpt from the "I Have A Dream" speech by the Rev. Martin Luther King set to Haftorah trope, chanted by Rabbi Susan Elkodsi.     I HAVE A DREAM I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for...

When we think about our personal legacies, and the intangibles we leave behind along with money, jewelry and other goods, two of the things that are often at the top of a list of “spiritual” or “ethical” bequests are a desire that one’s children get along once the...

Parashat Mikketz, which is almost always read on Shabbat during Hanukkah, begins with Pharaoh’s dream of 7 fat cows being swallowed up by seven lean cows, and the seven hearty sheaves of wheat replaced by the frail, windblown ones. Perhaps it’s a coincidence, but...

This week’s Torah reading is Vayishlach, and contains the famous story of Jacob wrestling with the angel before his meeting with his brother Esau after 20 years. “And a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn. When he saw that he had not prevailed against him,...

This year, for some reason, I haven’t been dreading Yom Kippur. No, I'm not thrilled about fasting, and the hours spent in synagogue (yes, sometimes even the rabbi!) but there's more to it. I was no more organized to lead services this year than in the past, but...

There’s a saying that insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different outcome. On the other hand, there’s comfort in doing the same thing over and over and getting the same result. As we approach Rosh Hashanah, I’d like to suggest that we...

Parashat Re’eh begins with God telling the Israelites, “See, I have put before you a blessing and a curse…” Basically, if we follow God’s ways we will be blessed, and if we follow strange gods, we will be cursed. The word re’eh means “see,” but in this case, it’s not,...

It has often been said that a rabbi’s job, or any clergy person’s for that matter, is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. At least it’s one of our jobs. This Shabbat is Shabbat Nachamnu, the Shabbat of Comfort, and we read from parshat Vaetchanan,...

    Eileh ma-asei b’nai yisrael... “These are the travels of the Israelites... .” Begins the final Torah reading in the book of Bamidbar – which literally means, “in the wilderness.” The reading starts off sounding like an ancient version of the classic “How...