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A Jewish Perspective on Exile and Influence
Maimonides writes the following in the Mishnah Torah, his book of Jewish law, based on a source in the Talmud: “A Jew is not allowed to follow in the ways of the idolaters, and is not permitted to imitate their dress or hair style. Just as a Jew is different in their thinking and…
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Turning Wounds into Wisdom
In this week’s Parsha, Vayechi, Jacob dies and the brothers of Joseph are afraid that Joseph will take revenge upon them. Joseph says to them, “Am I in the place of God? Although you intended me harm, God intended it for good, so as to bring about the present result—the survival of many people. And…
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The Younger Leader: Embracing Struggle and Creativity
In this week’s Parsha, Vayichi, we have a familiar story of blessings bestowed upon two brothers. According to the Torah the first born receives a double portion and is meant to be the leader and even the Jewish people itself, as a leader among the nations, is in this sense called by God, “My firstborn.”…
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Simchat Torah 2019
This week Jews in synagogues around the world will begin again reading the Hebrew Bible from the beginning of the book of Genesis to finish the five books of Moses in 52 weeks hence. Reading the biblical story of creation is on one hand enlightening in its stark contrast to many ancient accounts of the…
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Halachot of Food
Moadim L’simcha! One important aspect of being a cohesive community is eating in each other’s homes especially for Shabbat and holiday meals. Sometimes different people in a community have different standards of kashrut, some more strict and some more lenient. Kesher Israel has a kashrut guideline so that we can be on the…
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The Path to Truth: Learning from Moshe on Simchat Torah
We have just completed the pathway of the Tishrei holidays whose purpose is to provide us with a strong foundation for the coming year. The process of Teshuva fixes and strengthens our relationships with others and with God, and Sukkot gives us an appreciation for all that we have, including – in agricultural times –…
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The Dual Identity of the Jewish People
The Jews are an enigmatic people. We are not a religion, for there are many who would say they are Jewish but are not religious; we are not a nation, a nation is identified by its land and Jews have not had a land for most of their history; and we are not a culture…
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Herman Wolk: A Legacy of Faith, Learning, and Resilience
This morning I went to the shiva for our oldest congregant, Herman Wolk, who died at 103 years old this past week. The shiva was held in New York at one of the many orthodox Shuls that he attended over his 103 years. In an act of amazing hakarat hatov, gratitude, his nephew told me…
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From Muggings to Meaning: Reconnecting to God and Community on Shabbat
As you know by now Sunday night while walking through Rose Park I was mugged and robbed. Two individuals who no doubt saw a person they perceived to have expendable cash, jumped me. I don’t blame them, people do such things out of desperation. We often have little control over what happens to us,…
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Individualism and Conformity
Judaism believes deeply in the power and value of the group, but it also values the individual. Jewish unity is vital, the Jewish people were only able to receive the Torah when they were like one person with one heart. On the other hand the danger in unity is the loss of the self. If…
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The Voice of Women in Holy Song and Prayer
In the beginning of this past week’s Torah portion,Toldot, the Torah writes, “These are the generations of Isaac…” Surprisingly, we are told in the next verse that there are no generations, that Rivka, like each of our ancestors, was barren. The Torah comes to describe the empty space of no children and the need for…
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Science and Creation
“In the beginning G-d created the heavens and the land.” Rashi (11 century) comments, “…The Torah is not attempting to describe the order of the creation…for if it was how could the Torah say, ‘the spirit of G-d hovered over the water,’ before it has spoken of the creation of the waters…thus it must be…
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Lessons from Rabbi Akiva’s Students
Our Parsha, Emor, continues with the theme of holiness from last week’s Parsha. This week we read about the holiness of the Kohanim and of the holidays and Shabbat which are called mikraey kodesh, “times of holiness”. We are also in the midst of the counting of the Omer, a period that in Mishnaic…
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More Than Numbers: The Sacredness of Names in the Torah
The name of this week’s Torah portion is Shemot, which literally means, “names.” Though content-wise the book itself might be more aptly known by its latin name, Exodus, it does indeed begin with the counting by name of the children of Israel: “And these are the names of the children of Israel who came to…
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Sukkot 2017
A great answer to a famous question Every child learns the question in Jewish day school. If the sukkah reminds us of God’s protection of the Jewish people in the desert why don’t we build it in the month of Nisan when the Jewish people left Egypt. There are many answers but one that Rav…
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The Power of Relationships in Creating Something New
Beginnings are a very powerful time in Judaism. I guess the best place to learn about them is at THE BEGINNING. When the Torah describes God creating human beings God says something strange: “Let us make humans”. The classic Jewish commentaries ask: “Why us?” Clearly the Torah sees God as only One. Who is God…
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Passover 2017
Pesach is a holiday that brings with it many mitzvot and much joy and freedom, but also a great deal more limitation and rules. Suddenly, something that is permitted all year, is indeed the staff of life, is suddenly limited. Additionally, there is great anxiety about chometz since we can not only not…
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Passover 2017 – Exodus of Egypt
In the past few Torah portions we have been reading of the Jewish People’s Exodus from Egypt. The 10th plague, the smiting of the firstborn, seems to be the final catalyst which precipitates Pharos’ freeing of the slaves. Curiously, just after the firstborn in Egypt are killed the Jewish people are told, “…therefore you shall sanctify…