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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…
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Passover – Progress to Redemption
This Shabbat we begin the second book of the Torah in which we read about the enslavement in Egypt and the subsequent redemption process. On Passover we drink 4 cups of wine to symbolize the four steps of redemption mentioned here. I will take you out, I will save you, I will take you culturally…
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The Endangered Next Generation of Israeli-American Jews
Close to a million Israelis live in countries other than Israel. The majority have settled in the United States and Canada for the long run, teaching at universities, running business, and becoming entrepreneurs. Most identify as secular and send their children to public schools. Although they maintain a vague Israeli identity, most of the children…
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Make America Civil Again
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are tightening their grips on the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations. One of my congregants watched the presidential debates with their 9 year old child. After a few minutes the child stood up and said, “we are not allowed to watch this.” When they inquired why she replied, because it…
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Sukkot 2016
The sukkah is a perplexing space, symbolising a great number of things. When something has many explanations this indicates that its nature is not completely clear to us. Here is a list of what the Sukkah represents: 1. A Real Sukkah-The Torah writes that the purpose of the sukkah is: “In order that your generations…
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Adam and Eve: Two Stories, Two Personalities
In this week’s Torah portion, Berashit, the first humans, Chava and Adam are created. The story of their creation is told twice in the Torah, the first in chapter 1 and the second in chapter 2, with many differences. In the first story Adam and Eve are created at the same time in the image…
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Passover 2016
Passover is about relationships. Over and over the Torah expresses the Passover Seder in intergenerationally related terms, for example: “When your child shall ask you, “what is this service”….,” “And you shall say to them, “with a strong hand G-d took us out from Egypt”…” Our seders are held primarily in homes and involve families…
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The Purpose of Mitzvot
Do mitzvot have reasons or are they purely a Divine decree? Should we live lives insulated from other cultures or integrated with them? Is religious life an ascetic one or should we take advantage of life’s pleasures? Lots of theological profundities which impact the way we live our lives are the subject of much…
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Adam One as Paradigm for Communal Spiritual Leadership
Synagogue rabbis today are teachers, administrators, and pastors. They give sermons, raise money, teach classes, facilitate Jewish lifecycle events, answer halakhic questions, coordinate meetings, occasionally change lightbulbs, absorb the anger and anxiety of individuals for the sake of the community’s greater health, assist Bar and Bat Mitzvah children with their drashot, comfort the mourner, support…