A Huff And A Puff And Then What?
In synagogues all over the world during the festival of Sukkot, the book of Kohelet/Ecclesiastes will be read during services, most likely on Shabbat. Kohelet is one of the “Five Scrolls” in our biblical canon, and each is read on a different occasion; Esther on...
Ruth Bader Ginsberg–A New Judge In The Heavenly Court
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, of Blessed Memory, was a trail-blazer and fierce advocate for the rights of all. She worked tireless so that women and girls in the future might not have to struggle as she did, to be accepted as a woman in a man's...
Standing at the Edge of Promise
In 2003, my parents, of blessed memory, became snowbirds. They spent the winter in Sarasota, Florida and the summer in Trumbull, Connecticut where my sister and I were raised. One year, during the February vacation, we took the kids to my parents, spent a few days all...
No Hebrew? No Problem!
One of the most universal dreams–perhaps nightmares is a better word–are the ones where you show up in class totally unprepared, assuming you can even find the classroom! Of course, everyone else knows exactly what’s going on. I have those dreams, and I’m always...
Ki Tetze, Amalek and Erasing Memory
This week’s Torah reading, Ki Tetze, ends with a command to the Israelites regarding the nation of Amalek, “Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey, after you left Egypt; how, undeterred by fear of God, he surprised you on the march, when you were famished and...
On Becoming A Jew
This week, I had the honor and privilege of helping to welcome four young women into the Jewish Community as they performed the ritual immersion at the mikveh. Each one came to Judaism from a different background and for different reasons; all shared the...
From Mourning to Dancing
In Psalm 30 King David writes, ba-arev yalin bekhi, v’laboker rina, "tears may linger for a night, but joy comes the morning.” The author also blesses the God who “changed my mourning into dancing, my sackcloth into robes of joy, that I might sing praises to you...
The “Duh! Moments” in the Talmud
One of my student pulpits was in Kauneonga Lake, NY, in the Catskills. From July 4th weekend through Labor Day, the bungalow communities, hotels and communities come alive as many Orthodox Jews from the city come up to spend the summer in the fresh air. A weekly...
Batter Up – Stepping Up
Parashat Pinchas is about leadership, and about stepping up to the plate. In contrast to Korach, who rebelled against the leadership of Moses and Aaron for his own purposes, Pinchas, Aaron’s grandson, is rewarded with a brit shalom, a “covenant of friendship...
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way to The Temple
In 586 BCE the Holy Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed and a large part of the Jewish community living in Eretz Israel was exiled to Babylonia. Normally, when a people is exiled to a foreign land, they get absorbed into society and disappear. Not so with us. If...
How Not To Stage A Rebellion
Korach ben Izhar, I’ve misjudged you, and I owe you an apology. You challenged the authority of Moses and Aaron, and ultimately of God and Torah, and for that you paid, along with 250 of your closest friends. But this year, when I read your story, I looked beyond what...
Why Black Lives Need to Matter to Jews
Today is Juneteenth, an African-American holiday commemorating the day, in 1865, that news of the abolishment of slavery reached the state of Texas. You can read more about it here: https://www.juneteenth.com/history.htm As Jews, we know all too well what it means to...
The Blessings of Names
B'midbar, the book of “Numbers” in English, literally means, “in the wilderness.” Speaking to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, God commands him to bring some semblance of order to the chaos of Israelite community wandering b’midbar. This is accomplished by taking a...
Is it Contagious?
I grew up listening to the Fifth Dimension singing, “when the moon is in the 7th house, and Jupiter, aligns with Mars. Then peace will guide the planet, and love will steer the stars.” So perhaps right now isn’t the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, and yes, I’m dating...
When Fear Happens: The Golden Calf and Coronavirus
As a pulpit rabbi, part of my job is to take our ancient, sacred texts, like the Torah, and make them relevant for who we are and how we live today. Sometimes it feels like a stretch, but as has been said, “turn it and turn it, for everything is in it.” (Avot d’Rabbi...
Latest Sermons
Shema: Listening, Hearing and the Shofar
Rosh Hashanah 5783, Day 2 The word, “Shema.” What do you think of when you hear it? Usually, we think of “The Shema” as the verses we chant or sing from the book of Devarim, Deuteronomy, and in that context, it’s a bold theological statement. It is an idea which goes...
A Time For fixing, A Time for Finishing
A needle felt project the author finished. Rosh Hashanah Day 1, 5783 A Time for Fixing and a Time for Finishing As I sit in my home, I hear things calling to me. Often, they’re coated in chocolate, but not always. More often, they’re unfinished projects, clutter,...
Shoftim: Can Destruction be Just?
Photo: Lawrence Barringer, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Bugwood.org licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. The spotted lantern fly has arrived in our area, and we’re being advised to squash them if we see them. This bug has no natural...
Latest Midrash HaZak
Shemini- Forging a Path Forward
Shemini- Forging a Path Forward Rabbi David Levin "If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you…" (If, by Rudyard Kipling) How do I handle competing demands? What do I require for myself, and what do my obligations to others...
Bo: Telling Our Story, Enhancing our Senses
Bo: Telling Our Story, Enhancing our Senses Rabbi Sue Live Elwell When we turn to the texts that have accompanied many throughout the days of their lives, we look for directional signs that may be useful to us as we navigate our final days and years. As we age, we...
Emor: Questioning The Status Quo
Emor: Questioning The Status Quo Dr. Betsy Stone I am fascinated by this parsha, with its juxtaposition of HOLY days and UNHOLY people. Emor begins by telling us how a Kohen may be defiled/ritually impure–by visiting a graveyard, shaving parts of their heads or...
Latest Personal Blogs
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