• The Exodus Within: Finding Personal Freedom Through Change

    Yetziat Mitzrayim, the Exodus from Egypt, which we are currently reading about in the Torah, is not only a national historical event, but, as Rabbi Nachaman of Breslov put it, something that we as individuals, emotionally and spiritually, must engage in every day. For hundreds of years, the Israelites were born into a slavery, not…

  • From Pain to Prayer: Lessons on Faith in Times of Darkness

    In the end of this week’s Torah portion, Vayera, we read about the famous Akeidah, the binding of Isaac.  For millennia, people have written about the perplexity of this story—how could God command Abraham to kill his child? How could Abraham listen to God? What is the Torah trying to teach us? Sacrificing one’s child…

  • Israel’s Role in Modern Jewish Identity

    Some people say that denying the Jewish people the right to return to the Land of Israel, and the right to national self-determination, is not anti-Semitic;  that Israel is not an essential part of being a Jew, since the Jewish people have been religious Jews for 2000 years without sovereignty in the Land. The counter-argument is…

  • The Jewish Perspective on Truth and Governance

    The Shulchan Aruch, Code of Jewish Law, states that if three identical pieces of meat, one which is unkosher and two which are kosher, become mixed together in one container, we are permitted to eat all of them.  We know that one of these pieces is not kosher, and yet as we pull each one…

  • Breaking Free from Narrow Thinking

    Our era, ironically, has been called the age of communication.  When I was young, making a phone call from Israel to the United States cost a great deal and was not simple, so one might speak to their relatives abroad only rarely.   When my oldest was in Israel about 5 years ago calling was…

  • Ego vs. Desire: The Two Sins of Saul and David

    I have often been perplexed by the very different reactions The torah has to the sin of King David and the sin of King Saul.  King Saul failed to fulfill the Torah’s command of wiping out Amalek in his war with them.  He let Agag the king of Amalek live.   Shmuel the profit takes…

  • When Normality Becomes Evil

    In this week’s parsha, Vayera, we read the story of Sodom. After Avrohom unsuccessfully argues with God to spare its inhabitants, Avrohom and the two angels go to save Avrohom’s nephew, Lot, from Sodom: “The two angels arrived in Sodom in the evening, as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them,…

  • Outspokenness and Obedience

    In this week’s Torah portion, Vayerah, God tells Abraham that he is going to destroy the city of Sodom.  Abraham’s response is, “Will you destroy the righteous with the wicked?  Perhaps there are 50 righteous people in the city…far be it from You, to kill the righteous with the wicked…will the judge of the entire…

  • Lessons from Vayera on Humility and Unity

    “The signature of God is truth.” -Talmud Shabbat 55a “It is better to be kind than to be right.” -Anne Lamont In this week’s Parsha, Vayera, the Master of the Universe tells a lie: “Then the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I in truth bear a child, old as I…

  • Building a Culture of Community

    Every shul describes itself as “warm and welcoming.” All too often though this means that communities work hard to welcome those they want to welcome, those that fit in. A culture of welcoming is one in which welcoming is so ingrained and lauded that it is viewed as the most important Jewish characteristic. That anyone…

  • Abraham and Sara’s Tent

    In the beginning of this week’s Torah portion (Vayara) we find Abraham talking to G-d. Suddenly he sees three nomads coming toward him. Immediately Abraham runs out to greet them, brings them into his open tent and cooks them a meal. (It is this preoccupation with over feeding people that deems him the first Jew.)…

  • The True Test of Abraham’s Faith

    In this week’s Torah portion, Vayera Avrohom faces the most difficult of his ten tests, to sacrifice his child.  The Akedah is perhaps the most perplexing chapter in the Torah.  How could Avrohom agree to do what was forbidden?  When Cain killed Abel it can be argued that Cain did not know it was wrong.…