• The Dual Call of Leadership

    In this week’s Torah portion, B’ha’aloticha, the Levites are designated to replace the first born as those who will serve in the Tabernacle, as the Torah states:  “Take the Levites from among the Israelites and purify them.  This is what you shall do to them to purify them: sprinkle  the water of purification on them,…

  • The Sefirah

    Time is central to many mitzvot and elements of Jewish life.  We pray at specific times of day, the holidays are called moadim which means “times”, and seasons of year even have specific textures relating to their holidays, such as freedom, introspection, joy, etc.   When we think about what time is though, we are at…

  • Kidoshim 2022

    This past week one of our older congregants, Michael Gelfand, passed away.  He and his wife Edith are long time members of our shul, generous supporters, and are among those, over the years, who have worked very hard as leaders to make Kesher Israel the welcoming, bustling, thoughtful, community that it is.  Michael was buried…

  • Passover/Shabbat HaGadol 2006

    In addition to Passover we also celebrate the Shabbat preceding it.  In fact this Shabbat has a special name, Shabbat Hagodol, The Great Shabbat. The Torah writes,  And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron…Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take everyone a lamb,…

  • Physical vs. Spiritual Counting

    In the beginning of this week’s Torah portion, Bamidbar, the Torah relates that on the first day of the second month, God tells Moses to count the Jewish people.  This is the third time in the Torah that the Jewish people are counted, as Rashi (Rabbi Shlomoh Isaac, 11century French Torah commentator) says, “They are…

  • Sacred Intentions, Dangerous Actions

    In this week’s Torah portion, Korach, we are told of a challenge to Moses and Aaron’s leadership in the desert.   Moses and Aaron’s cousin Korach and 250 leaders of the Jewish people come to Moshe and Aaron and say, “The whole people are holy and G-d is in their midst, so why do you…

  • The Danger of Autonomy: Balancing Work and Spiritual Purpose in the Land

    This week’s Torah portion, Bichukoti, outlines the national blessings that the Jewish people will enjoy if they observe God’s commandments and the curses that will afflict them if they do not.   The blessings promise proper rain, crop growth and national security, whereas the potential curses depict the converse. The Jewish people at this point…

  • Manna and Responsibility: Balancing Self-Reliance and Divine Gratitude

    In this week’s torah portion, Ekev, the Jewish people stand on the eastern bank of the Jordan River about to enter the land of Israel and Moses speaks to them as he does throughout the whole book of Deuteronomy, reminiscing about the past 40 years and giving the Jews words of rebuke and strength for…

  • Elul 2014

    We are currently in the month of Elul, the Hebrew month preceding the days of awe.   This is the month spent cultivating tishuvah.  Tishuvah is often translated as repentance but literally means return.   The Torah portion this week speaks of blessings and curses.  The Jewish people are promised blessing if they listen to…

  • Spirituality in the Gritty Reality: Lessons from the Spies

    In this week’s Torah portion, Shelach, the Jewish people have completed the short trek from Mount Sinai to the Land of Israel.  God tells them to send the heads of each tribe as spies to spy out the Land of Israel.  After 40 days the spies return. Ten spies bring a bad report of the…

  • Passover 2009

    Regarding the Seder night Maimonides writes, “In every generation a person is obligated to see themselves as if they, right now, have gone out from the slavery of Egypt.  So does the Torah write, “remember that you were a slave,” meaning it is as if you yourself were a slave and have gone out to…

  • Rosh Hashanah 2009

    The Talmud states:  “We anoint kings next to a spring of water so that their kingship should continue to give forth like a spring…Rabbi Ammi said, “If one is about to engage in business and wishes to know whether he will succeed or not, let him get a rooster and feed it; if it grows…

  • Tabernacle, Shabbat, and the Risk of Idolatry

    With this week’s Torah portion, Pikudey, we will finish the book of Shemot, Exodus, and the reading of a 5 torah portion series that describes the tabernacle, a moving temple the Jews had in the desert, and its erection.   In these portions God describes the tabernacle to Moses while he is on the mountain…

  • Kidoshim 2022

    In this week’s Parsha, Kidoshim, the Torah writes, “Do not go about as a talebearer among your people, and do not stand idly by the blood of your fellow, I am God.” The Talmud (Sanhedrin 73a) states: “From where is it derived that one who sees another drowning in a river, or being dragged away…

  • Passover 2022

    Pesach, which falls this Friday night, commemorates the most important moment in Jewish history.  We have no commandment to remember Saini, or the day we entered Israel, but we have many which commemorate the Exodus from Egypt because this moment of leaving Egypt and becoming a nation contextualizes who we are as Jews more than…

  • Shabbat Hagodol 2022: Prayer and Diversity

    I am in Israel this week to perform a wedding and, due to jet lag, I had the opportunity to walk very early this morning to Meah Shearim, a very religious neighborhood in Jerusalem, to pray.  Around sunrise I went to the mikvah there and davened Shacharit at one of my favorite places to pray,…

  • Shabbat HaChodesh 2022

    This Shabbat has a special name, Shabbat HaChodesh, on which we read a maftir from Parshat Bo which contains the first commandment given to the Jewish people as a nation just before they leave Egypt: “Hachodesh hazeh lachem,” “This month (of Nisan) shall be to you the first of months.”    The first Rashi on the…

  • Lessons from Ezekiel and the Israeli Redemption

    Haftorah Ezikiel The haftorah of Parshat Parah this week tells us that the exile of the Jewish people is a desecration of God’s name, a Chilul Hashem:  “I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries, I punished them in accordance with their ways and their deeds.  But when they came…

  • Purim 2022

    This week we celebrate the holiday of Purim.  The Torah has messages for every time and generation.  There are many lessons we can learn from Purim for our lives today.   On a theological level we can learn about the invisible hand of Providence guiding the events of history, which is perhaps why the megillah, which…

  • Shabbat Zachor: Remembering Amalek’s Challenge

    This week is “Shabbat Zachor,” the “Shabbat of Remembering”.   Since it is just before Purim and on Purim we were threatened by Haman who was a direct descendant of Amalek, we fulfill the biblical commandment this Shabbat to remember what Amalek did to us. We do this by reading a portion from Divarim about…