• The 13 Attributes of Mercy and the Role of Perspective

    This week’s Torah portion, Ki Tisa, contains the famous 13 Attributes of Mercy. We say them on fast days, and  on Yom Kippur we say them over and over in an attempt to beseech God for mercy.  As the Talmud says in Rosh Hashanah, 17b, “God appeared to Moses and taught him the 13 Attributes,…

  • Shabbat, the Mishkan, and the Golden Calf

    In this week’s parsha, Ki Tisa, the Jewish people, just after hearing God at Mount Sinai, worship the golden calf.  This of course is a great sin for which Moshe appeals to God’s mercy and ultimately, gains forgiveness for the people. Aviva Zorenberg points out that if we look at the larger context of the…

  • A Call to Bring Hope to the Dark Places in Our World

    The Talmud, Avoda Zava 8a, states: Our Sages taught: When Adam the first man saw that the day was progressively diminishing, as the days become shorter from the autumnal equinox until the winter solstice, he did not yet know that this is a normal phenomenon, and therefore he said: Woe is me; perhaps because I…

  • The Balance Between Passion and Purpose in the Mishkan

    This week’s double parsha is Vayakhel-Pekudei which concludes the book of Shemot.   The parsha begins with the commandment of shabbat.  But if we view these parshiot about the mishkan from 30000 feet an interesting pattern emerges.   The point is made by Avivah Zornberg that the story of Moshe on the mountain learning about…

  • Cultivating a Personal Jewish Life Amidst External Pressures

    Yosef is called Yosef HaTzadik, Joseph the Righteous.  He is the ancestor who lives in a foreign, idolatrous land, becomes well integrated into its structure functioning there as a great leader, and yet retains his Israelite religious values.  Yosef’s ability, in the face of Egyptian culture, to not only retain his values and religious outlook…

  • The Call to Reconnect: Finding God After Distance and Sin

    This week’s Torah portion, Pikudeh, the last in the book of Exodus, includes the completion of the Tabernacle, the moveable Temple that the Jewish people carried with them in the desert.  Following its erection the Divine presence rests upon it in fulfillment of God’s Biblical promise: “Make a sanctuary for Me and I will dwell…

  • Purim 2020

    In our era the glue which used to hold families together, interconnect members of communities, and unite nations, is dissolving.  I do not believe the Coronavirus is the cause of these ailments, but these hard times hold up a mirror to us.   Worldwide catastrophes exerts pressure, testing the bonds we may have thought were…

  • Sanctifying God’s Name in the Modern World

    In 1865, almost 100 Hungarian Rabbis, (in reaction to Reform and Enlightenment movements), signed a pisak din, a halachic decision, to forbid the following in Orthodox Shuls, and additionally decreed that anyone who finds themselves in such a shul should leave immediately: The derasha given in a “secular”  language other than Yiddish or Hebrew, a…

  • Building Bridges of Faith in a Time of Hate

    This past week Jews and Christians were attacked in the midst of religious celebration and prayer.   What prompts such attacks on religion?   Though on a conscious level this hate seems to be about prejudice itself, and for Jews it seems to come from many sides of the political spectrum,  I believe that it…

  • Lessons from Joseph and His Brothers

    We have just finished reading the story of Joseph and his brothers.  In it Joseph’s brothers experience confusion, despondency, and powerlessness as their brother secretively manipulates them, falsely accusing them of being spies and thieves.  One can imagine being in their shoes and asking: Why?  Why are all these terrible things happening?  Ultimately their worst…

  • Finding Meaning in Crisis

    This week’s parsha, Vayigash , is the culmination of several chapters documenting the intriguing story of Joseph and his brothers. Imagine yourself in the shoes of the brothers – the perplexity and horror at finding their money in their sacks, the viceroy’s cup in Benjamin’s sack – framed for a crime. Having to bring their…

  • Balancing Tradition: Orthodoxy’s Struggle with Extremes

    Orthodox Judaism, in its desire to create distance from liberal denominations, at times does itself a disservice.    This phenomenon is well known.  For instance our sometimes hyper focus on the letter of the law in a way that dismisses its deeper meaning I think is often in response to liberal denominations which stress the…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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.”…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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 –…

  • 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…

  • From Sinai to the Desert: The Struggle with Desire and Growth

    In this week’s parsha, the Jewish people have started the walk from Mount Sinai to the land of Israel and the people begin to complain. “We remember the fish, which we ate for free in Egypt; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, onions, and garlic;  But now our soul is dried up; there…