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...
When Amalek Went Viral
The holiday of Purim this year coincides with the spread of COVID-19, the coronavirus, which has prompted schools and other institutions to close, and synagogues to rethink their holiday plans. As with many, if not most infections diseases, those at highest risk are...
Sacred Spaces, Sacred Communities
In looking at our current Torah readings, which contain detailed and repetitive instructions for the building of the Mishkan (sanctuary) in the wilderness–along with the things that will go in it and around it–and the special wardrobe for the kohanim who will...
From the Outside Looking In
In this week’s Torah reading, Yitro, the Israelites receive the Torah from God on Mt. Sinai. It’s the defining moment of the birth of the Jewish people; the acceptance of God’s commandments and the creation of the covenant between God and the people. It’s a moment...
Latest Sermons
VaEtchanan: Until His Final Breath
Photo Credit: flickr.com/photos/maltin75/6278446183 “Observe God’s laws and commandments, which I enjoin upon you this day, that it may go well with you and your children after you, and that you may long remain in the land that the LORD your God is assigning to you...
Parshat Pinchas: Looking For the Good
Photo: COSV from Wikimedia Commons. Women Gathering Wood, South Sudan My friend Sylvia (who says I’m her favorite female rabbi) is almost 98–may she live and be well–and is often troubled by the harsher judgments and more problematic passages in the Torah. And rightly...
Shabbat for the 4th of July
Photo credit: publicdomainpibtures.net Shabbat for the Fourth of July Two hundred and 46 years ago, the Continental Congress approved the final wording of the Declaration of Independence, and in addition to stating a litany of grievances against tyrannical British...
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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