February 2, 2024 This week in our Torah portion, the Israelites receive the Ten Commandments (Aseret HaDibrot – more accurately translated as “the Ten Sayings.” ) Imagine, just about three months after being freed from Egyptian slavery, miraculously crossing the Sea of Reeds on dry land, our ancestors who had known only slavery are now …
January 26, 2024 This Shabbat, we read the Torah portion in which our ancestors sang what became known as “The Song at the Sea” (Shirat HaYam), having experienced the miracle of crossing the parted Red Sea, from slavery into freedom. Since that moment, through our long desert wanderings and the vast history of our people …
January 19, 2024 This past Sunday marked 100 days from the horrors of October 7th, and 100 days in captivity for the remaining 136 hostages in Gaza. The magnitude of human suffering in Israel and in Gaza over these 100 days defies comprehension, and as the war drags on, and the hostages’ fate remains unknown, …
January 12, 2024 Yup, you heard that right – as of yesterday, we began the Hebrew month of Shevat, and are preparing to celebrate Tu B’Shevat, the birthday or new year of the trees! While we’re still in the depths of winter here in the Northeastern US, in the Middle East, the first blossoms of the …
January 5, 2024 As a Jewish educator, I get a lot of questions from parents. Sometimes it’s little things, like whether their student can leave early from our weekly religious school class at ARS. Sometimes it’s bigger things, like if I have advice on how to help them find a therapist for their child. I …
December 29, 2029 As we conclude the book of Genesis this Shabbat, we have a parashah that is full of transition, and full of blessing. We dwell in a liminal space, with the deaths of both our patriarch Jacob, for whom we are named (he is called Israel), and his beloved son Joseph. Both …
December 22, 2023 As 2023 winds down, tis’ the season for traveling and family reunions, which happen to be the central elements in this week’s Torah portion, Parshat Vayigash, the penultimate parsha in the book of Genesis. The parsha picks up with Joseph’s first encounter with his brothers in over 20 years… Last they saw one another, Joseph’s brothers …
December 15, 2023 Last night, I watched with gratitude and with sadness as the eight flames of the hanukkiah flickered strongly and defiantly, then slowly burned down to embers and then completely out. I couldn’t tear myself away from the sight of it – these two hanukkiot that we’d placed in the window, fulfilling the …
December 8, 2023 More than 2,000 years ago, our ancestors stood in the midst of the wreckage of the ruined, desecrated Temple and began cleaning and rebuilding immediately. Maybe not right away with brooms and dustpans (or whatever they used at that time), but with their intention, from an unimaginable strength of spirit within them, …
