• Reflections on Kesher Israel

    A recent visitor in shul, looking slightly bemused, asked me, “Is Kesher an international organization?” I answered, “Yes and no.” We are a shul, but additionally we have “members” all over the world, many of whom have lived here and some who just attend a few times a year. All of these thousands of Kesherites…

  • Israel: the First and Last Man

    Last week, something shifted in the world. We all knew that Iran preached wiping Israel and the United States off the map, but most of us assumed these were threats that could never actually materialize. After all, the destruction of whole countries and the whole world is the stuff of movies.  Surely a sane adult…

  • Light in the Darkness

    This week’s Torah portion, Beha’alotcha, opens with the command that the Kohen light the menorah in the tabernacle. This command seems out of place here. It follows the account of the gifts brought by the heads of each tribe for the dedication of the altar and precedes the discussion of the sanctification of the Levites.…

  • Parshat Parah-Paradox and Purity: The Red Heifer, Purim, and the Hidden Unity of God

    This week we read the special maftir of Parah, which describes the strange commandment of the red heifer. If someone becomes impure through contact with a dead body, the purification process is via the ashes of a red heifer, which must be mixed with water and sprinkled upon them. The Kohen, the priest, who sprinkles…

  • Lessons of the Three Weeks for a Polarized World

    Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem. This coming week, with the fast of the 17th of Tamuz, begins the Three Weeks of mourning for the destruction of the Temple and the exile. The Talmud tells us that destruction comes to the Jewish people when they are divided, when there is hatred among us. This turns out to…

  • 21st century Zionism

    Sara and I return to Washington this week after a very interesting and inspiring month in Israel. Witnessing Israel’s internal strength has been especially instructive. Though its divisions were pronounced and Israelis are not the type to politely agree, when it comes to the things that matter, they are unified.    For instance, a few nights ago…

  • Cooperation and Competition

    This coming week, with the fast of the 17th of Tamuz, begins the Three Weeks of mourning for the destruction of the Temple and the exile. The Talmud tells us that destruction comes to the Jewish people when they are divided, when there is hatred among us. This turns out to be true of all…

  • Trust and Gratitude

    Greetings from Jerusalem! In this week’s Torah portion, Moshe screams at the Jewish people and hits the rock and due to this, is unable to enter the Land of Israel. The Jewish people at this time are standing on the eastern banks of the Jordan river. For almost 40 years they have received water and…

  • Torah and the State of Israel

    Shalom from Israel, where I am learning for the month with other rabbis at the Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.    Sara and I spent this past Shabbat in Ranana with several close friends of ours. Just after Shabbat, we turned on our phones to read that a 20-year-old boy from Ranana, Yair Avitan, was killed fighting…

  • Remember the “Why”

    In this week’s Torah portion, Shelach, Moshe sends the heads of the tribes to spy out the land and report back—10 of the 12 come with a bad report, saying they do not think it can be conquered. Two of the spies come back with a good report and reassure the people that they can…

  • Leaving Sinai and Taking Sinai

    In this week’s Torah portion Beha’alotcha, there are two verses (Vayihi Binsoah Ha’aron) which are bracketed by an upside down letter nun before and after:  “When the Ark was to set out, Moses would say: “Advance, O God, May Your enemies be scattered, And may Your foes flee before You!” And when it (the ark)…

  • Counting on Balance

    Liberals and conservatives disagree about so much in our polarized society, yet there is one thing the extremists on both sides seem to agree on, and that is hatred of Jews and Israel. Who could have imagined that we would see the day when, in a blink of an eye following October 7th, progressive students…

  • Kohanim, Levites, and the Call to Serve

    In the first of this week’s parshiot, Matot, the Torah writes: “God spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Avenge the Israelite people against the Midianites; then you shall be gathered to your kin.’ Moses, in turn, told the army, ‘Let troops be picked out from among you for a campaign, and let them fall upon Midian to…

  • In Moshe’s Shadow: A World in Need of True Leadership

    In the first of this week’s double portions, Chukat, the Jewish people complain twice and Moshe’s response is not only unusual, but deeply perplexing. First, the people complain about the lack of water; God instructs Moshe to speak to the rock to draw out its waters. Instead of speaking, Moshe strikes the rock with his…

  • Holiness, Leadership, and the Limits of Equality

    In this week’s Torah portion, Korach, Moshe’s cousin Korach challenges the leadership of Moshe and Aaron alongside 250 men. He says, “The whole nation is holy, and God is among them, so why do you elevate yourselves above the congregation of the Lord?”  The verses which follow clarify that Korach and those with him wanted…

  • Learning from the Sins of the Complainers and Spies

    In this week’s parshat, Beha’alotcha, the Torah tells us that the Jewish people brought an offering on their first Passover in the desert, which was exactly one year after leaving Egypt: the 15th of Nisan. Strangely, though, nine chapters earlier the book of Bamidbar began in the second month – Iyar. So why now is…

  • Counting with Care: The Individual in the Multitude

    In this week’s parsha, Nasso, the counting of the Jewish people which began in the previous parsha, is completed. Rash”i (Numbers 1:1) comments: “Because the people are dear to God, God counts them often.  When they went forth from Egypt God counted them, when many of them fell in consequence of their having worshiped the golden…

  • Hoshea’s Prophetic Allegory: A Lesson in Mercy and Judgment

    The regular haftarah for Parshat Bamidbar is a curious one — though this year, we will read Machar Chodesh in its stead since the new moon is on Sunday this coming week. The haftarah for Parashat Bamidbar, from the Book of Hosea, opens with God commanding Hoshea the Prophet to marry a harlot.  He has three…

  • From Vengeance to Sensitivity

    In this week’s Torah  portion, Matos-Masey, God tells Moshe to attack Midyan in order to avenge their attempt to defeat the Jewish people.  But Moshe does not do it himself, nor does he appoint anyone directly, instead he makes a general call out to the Jewish people telling them to appoint soldiers and take care…

  • Tzelafchad’s Daughters and the Passover Lesson

    In this week’s Torah portion, Pinchas, the Land of Israel is divided by tribes and male heads of families.  The daughters of a man named Tzelafchad, who had a great love for the Land of Israel, come forward and declare:  “Our father died in the wilderness. He was not one of Korah’s faction, which banded…