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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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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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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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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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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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Passover 2015
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…
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Sukkot 2014
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 Yitzchok Hutner gives in his book Pachad…
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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…
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Passover 2014 – Hidden meanings in the Passover Seder
In a few days the Jewish people will celebrate the holiday of Passover. The central observance of Passover is the seder meal with matza (unleavened bread), maror (bitter herbs), a festive meal, four cups of wine, readings related to the Biblical exodus from Egypt 3500 years ago, and above all, dialogue including questions, answers and…
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Shavuot 2014 – Reflections on our Community Shavuot Tikun and Jewish Unity
This past Tuesday night, the first night of Shavuot, over 100 people from five different shuls and institutions, Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox, came together to spend the night (some even made it all night!) learning Torah together; to stand again as we did at Sinai, no matter our differences, as “one person with one heart”.…
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The Lesson of Tishuvah
This month of Elul leads up to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. It is a time of reflection and tishuvah, return, but with what should we emerge from this process? Elul, Rosh Hashanah, the 10 Days of Tishuvah and Yom Kippur culminates in a service performed once a year on Yom Kippur itself, on the…
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Purim 2013
Finding God where He is not…in our world In less than a week, on March 20th, Jews will celebrate the holiday of Purim. Though not as well known by many as other holidays, Purim is actually considered perhaps the most important Jewish holiday. The Midrash, a first-century Jewish commentary on the Bible, writes that in…
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Shavuot 2012
It is not easy for people who share the same religious beliefs to see themselves as one. Due to differences they often label each other heretics and fanatics and deem each other guilty of undermining the welfare, identity, and religious underpinnings of the whole. Soon Jewish people all over the world will celebrate the Biblical…
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Passover 2012: When We all must Become Children
“One is obligated to see themselves on the Seder night as if they are actually now leaving Egypt.” -Maimonides “The child at the Seder asks: “Why is this night different from all other nights? On all other nights we eat leavened or unleavened bread but on this night only unleavened. On all other nights we…
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What’s in a Beracha (Blessing)
In this past Shabbat’s parsha Yaakov blesses his children with unusual blessings. We imagine blessings to be good wishes or promises for the future, here though Yaakov seems to bless his children by describing them, their strengths and weaknesses, in some instances, such as Shimon and Levi, only mentioning their weaknesses. What kind of blessing…
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Hanukkah 2011: A Hanukkah Irony
Hanukkah today is a holiday of great irony. Though not a Biblical holiday, and certainly not Judaism’s most essential holiday, Hanukkah has taken on an exaggerated importance in America, due I think, to its calandrical proximity with one of Christianity’s most important festivals. Hanukkah commemorates the war in the year 166 B.C.E. between the Jews…
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Were our Avot Perfect? (Part 2)
Last week I wrote a blog post on another blog in which I suggested Abraham had on some level failed the test of bringing his son Isaac as a sacrifice on Mount Moriah. That instead of bringing him perhaps the more ethical response would have been to protect the innocent child even in the face…