Thursday, June 13, 2013

‘Because I say so’: Parashat Chukat (Numbers 19:1-22:1)

by Rabbi Michael Barclay

“This is the decree [chukat] of the Torah” (Numbers 19:2). Isn’t it amazing how, as we get older, our parents seem to become wise?

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Lies, lies, lies

by Rabbi Avivah W. Erlick

My daughter, a soon-to-graduate high school senior, was chosen by a teacher to participate in an event to teach the school a lesson about drunk. . .

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

A failure of imagination: Parashat Shelach Lecha (Numbers 13:1-15:41)

by Rabbi Yehuda Hausman

The imagination is a stretch of highway that bends through the universe. Its lanes unmarked, its exits limitless, yet it is, nevertheless, the. . .

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

‘God is a fraud’

by Rabbi Paul Kipnes

In this week’s parasha, Beha’alotecha, Moses faces the fragility of life as he watches his sister, Miriam, struggle with tzara’at, a dangerous. . .

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

The ordeal of the Sotah: Parashat Naso (Numbers 4:21-7:89)

By Rabbi Anne Brener

In the late ’70s, I carried a beeper when it was my turn to be on call for a rape-victim helpline. One evening I had it clipped to my jacket during. . .

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Grace in the wilderness: Parashat Bamidbar (Numbers 1:1-4:20)

by Rabbi Mike Comins

The book of Bamidbar, literally “in the desert” or “in the wilderness,” is a hard book to read. Over and over, plagues break out and. . .

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

What happened at Sinai

By Rabbi Dov Fischer

This week’s double Torah portion, Behar-Bechukotai, begins: “And the Lord spoke to Moshe at Mount Sinai” (Leviticus 25:1). At the end of our. . .

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

The cure for anger: Parashat Emor (Leviticus 21:1-24:23)

by Rabbi Avivah W. Erlick

Life is not easy. In fact, at times it’s downright infuriating. Our natural tendency is to want to blame someone, and the easiest target is God. We. . .

Friday, April 19, 2013

Who is like you?

by Rabbi Joshua Hoffman

Nathan was a young man in his 20s, living in Gulfport, Miss. He lived with his mother and grandmother in a small three-bedroom home a little over a. . .

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Healing the broken – Parashat Tazria-Metzora (Leviticus 12:1-15:33)

By Rabbi Laura Geller

Most people try really hard to avoid having their bar or bat mitzvah on the Shabbat when we read Tazria-Metzora. I know this not only because I am a. . .

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Kosher Without Sacrifice?

by Rabbi Yehuda Hausman

The most elaborate, comprehensive and effective system for the prevention of animal cruelty was not invented by the FDA or even PETA; it was devised. . .

Thursday, March 28, 2013

The chametz within

by Chazzan Danny Maseng

Rejoice! Spring has arrived, and Pesach is here. The time of our liberation is at hand. The Exodus from our narrow straits is re-enacted once more.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Willing to sacrifice

By Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky

The mind of the midrashist drifts effortlessly over the face of the Tanakh as verses from the Torah conjure up similar verses and phrases from other. . .

Thursday, March 14, 2013

A divine call to action

By Rabbi Elazar Muskin

Once, on a mission to Israel, we needed a minyan for a prayer service during the airplane flight. We were a total of six men in our group, so we. . .

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Building Our Mishkan

By Rabbi Yonah Bookstein

The ancient sages teach us that the Torah is exceedingly careful with language. No phrase is superfluous. Each word or letter is part of the. . .

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

God’s road rage

by Rabbi Paul Kipnes

What’s up with God?

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Wearing your true self

by Rabbi Michael Barclay

We are taught from a young age not to “judge a book by its cover” and we raise our children to look deeper than just at the clothes someone is. . .

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Sharing the Infinite - Parashat Terumi (Exodus 25:1-27:19)

You shall make a sanctuary for me and I will dwell among them” (Exodus 25:8).

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

On equal footing

by Rabbi Lisa Edwards

I watched President Barack Obama’s second inauguration from the hospital room of my 92-year-old friend Harriet. She was having an EKG during it,. . .

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Power of ten

By Rabbi Daniel Bouskila

Sometime during the 13th century, in a private study in Barcelona, an anonymous author sat and composed “Sefer HaChinuch” (“The Book of. . .

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Hardship and rebirth: Parashat Beshalach (Exodus 13:17-17:16)

by Rabbi Avivah W. Erlick

In these dark, cold days of winter, it’s so easy to lose hope. Add to this the hardships of loss, with which life seems intent on liberally. . .

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Opportunity of a setback

By Rabbi Dov Fischer

This week’s parasha is one of the most central to the Jewish narrative. We read of the final plagues, the storm brought by God’s mighty hand and. . .

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Are you awake?

by Rabbi Joshua Hoffman

There is an old midrash to explain how Moshe discovered his Jewish identity and woke up to his calling as a teacher and prophet. Yocheved, Moshe’s. . .

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

What is in a Name?

by Rabbi Jocee Hudson

This week we begin a new book of Torah — Shemot in Hebrew and Exodus in English. While the word “exodus” means “going out,” the word. . .