• Purim and the Eternal Struggle: The War Between G-d and Amalek

    This week’s Torah portion, titzaveh, almost always falls during the week of the holiday of Purim which this year will be this Wednesday night, March 4th and Thursday, March 5th.  Purim was the day 2500 years ago in Persia that Haman tried to annihilate all the Jews and Queen Esther saved them.  Haman was a…

  • A Call to Care for One Another in Times of Crisis

    This week’s parsha, Ki Tisa, speaks of counting the Jewish people by means of the half shekel.  The Torah states that this was done in order to avoid a plague that could result from the counting.  Indeed King David, against the better judgement of his advisors, insisted on counting the people and this did result…

  • Navigating the Slippery Slope

    In this week’s Torah portion, Ki Tisa, the Jewish people make and worship the golden calf after which Moshe comes down the mountain and breaks the tablets.   This parsha is bookended by God giving the instructions for making the Tabernacle to Moshe and Moshe telling the Jewish people how to build it. Rash”i reads…

  • The 13 Attributes of Mercy and the Role of Perspective

    This week’s Torah portion, Ki Tisa, contains the famous 13 Attributes of Mercy. We say them on fast days, and  on Yom Kippur we say them over and over in an attempt to beseech God for mercy.  As the Talmud says in Rosh Hashanah, 17b, “God appeared to Moses and taught him the 13 Attributes,…

  • Shabbat, the Mishkan, and the Golden Calf

    In this week’s parsha, Ki Tisa, the Jewish people, just after hearing God at Mount Sinai, worship the golden calf.  This of course is a great sin for which Moshe appeals to God’s mercy and ultimately, gains forgiveness for the people. Aviva Zorenberg points out that if we look at the larger context of the…

  • The Balance Between Passion and Purpose in the Mishkan

    This week’s double parsha is Vayakhel-Pekudei which concludes the book of Shemot.   The parsha begins with the commandment of shabbat.  But if we view these parshiot about the mishkan from 30000 feet an interesting pattern emerges.   The point is made by Avivah Zornberg that the story of Moshe on the mountain learning about…

  • The Call to Reconnect: Finding God After Distance and Sin

    This week’s Torah portion, Pikudeh, the last in the book of Exodus, includes the completion of the Tabernacle, the moveable Temple that the Jewish people carried with them in the desert.  Following its erection the Divine presence rests upon it in fulfillment of God’s Biblical promise: “Make a sanctuary for Me and I will dwell…

  • 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,…