Behar: Abortion in Jewish Law. May 25, 2019
יָשִׁית עָלָיו בַּעַל הָאִשָּׁה וְנָתַן בִּפְלִלִים. כג וְאִם-אָסוֹן יִהְיֶה וְנָתַתָּה נֶפֶשׁ תַּחַת נָפֶשׁ. כד עַיִן תַּחַת עַיִן שֵׁן תַּחַת שֵׁן יָד תַּחַת יָד רֶגֶל תַּחַת...Read more...
Kodashim. May 11, 2019
Shabbat Shalom
One of the most difficult concepts in Judaism is Holiness. The Hebrew word for “holy” is “Kodesh”. Like all Hebrew words, it has a three-letter root that carries the meaning of “separate”; something that is holy is separate from other mundane or ordinary things. It gives us a hint of what Holiness is all about; it is not mundane or ordinary, but it still...Read more...
Acray Mot. May 4, 2019
Shabbat Shalom
Our Parsha takes place “Achray Mot” after the death of the two sons of Aaron. Aaron was a man of peace and well loved by all the Israelites, but he still had to face the tragedy of the death of two of his sons. The Torah implies that the two boys, Nadav...Read more...
Pesach-Yizkor Service. April 27, 2019
Shabbat Shalom and Hag Sameach
This is not an ordinary Yizkor sermon for me. Almost six months ago my mother, Shirley Konigsburg died suddenly. It was right after Sukkot, so this is my first Yizkor service that I have to include her in my prayers. I have said Kaddish now for almost six months, every morning in West Hartford and each evening here in our minyan. Minyan is not...Read more...
Pesach. April 26, 2019
Hag Sameach
On this seventh day of Pesach, we recall the greatest miracle in all of history, the parting of the Sea of Reeds and the safe crossing of the Israelites. It is a story that is well known because it is the climax of the entire story of the Exodus. Getting us...Read more...
Pesach-Telling Stories. April 21, 2019
Shabbat Shalom and Hag Sameach
Pesach is the Storytellers holiday. Everything about Pesach revolves around telling a story. The name of the book we use at our seder, The Haggadah, means “The Story” and it contains the telling of the story of how our ancestors left...Read more...
First Day of Pesach. April 20, 2019
יד וְהָיָה הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה לָכֶם לְזִכָּרוֹן וְחַגֹּתֶם אֹתוֹ חַג לַה’ לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם חֻקַּת עוֹלָם תְּחָגֻּהוּ.
This day shall be to you one of remembrance: you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord throughout the ages. You shall celebrate it as an institution for all time. [Exodus 12:14]
Consider:
Why is this night...Read more...
Shemini: Making Sense of Antisemitism. March 30, 2019
ג וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה אֶל-אַהֲרֹן הוּא אֲשֶׁר-דִּבֶּרָ ה’ לֵאמֹר בִּקְרֹבַי אֶקָּדֵשׁ…
Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord meant when he said: Through those near to me I show Myself holy….
Consider:
It’s hard to read the news these days without encountering evidence of a significant rise in antisemitism. In Alsace, France, gravestones...Read more...
Ki Tissa: How Can A Human "Cling" to God? February 23, 2019
י וְעַתָּה הַנִּיחָה לִּי וְיִחַר-אַפִּי בָהֶם וַאֲכַלֵּם וְאֶעֱשֶׂה אוֹתְךָ לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל.
"Now, let Me be, that My anger may blaze forth against them and that I may destroy them, and make of you a great nation."[Ex. 32:10]
Consider: [Warning: This One is Very Hard!]
Rabbi Abahu said: If Scripture hadn't written it, we couldn't possibly...Read more...
Teruma: Are Jews the "Ever Choosing" People? February 9, 2019
ב דַּבֵּר אֶל-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְיִקְחוּ-לִי תְּרוּמָה מֵאֵת כָּל-אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יִדְּבֶנּוּ לִבּוֹ תִּקְחוּ אֶת-תְּרוּמָתִי.
Tell the Israelite people to bring Me gifts; you shall accept gifts for Me from every person whose heart so moves him. [Exodus 25:2]
Consider:
The Talmud (BT Shabbat 88a) takes the Torah’s...Read more...
Yitro: Who is God and What Does God Want From Me? January 26, 2019
ב אָנֹכִי ה אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתִיךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם מִבֵּית עֲבָדִים לֹא-יִהְיֶה לְךָ אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים עַל-פָּנָי.
I the Lord am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage: You shall have no other gods besides Me. [Exodus...Read more...
Bo: Who Speaks For Me? January 12, 2019
ג דַּבְּרוּ אֶל-כָּל-עֲדַת יִשְׂרָאֵל …
Speak to the whole community of Israel… [Exodus 12:3]
Consider:
“American Jews and Israeli Jews Are Headed for a Messy Breakup,” a column by Jonathan Weisman announced in the New York Times earlier this week. He’s probably right. But only...Read more...
Vaera: January 5, 2019
Shabbat Shalom
My weekly bible class knows that one of the ways we need to read Torah is to look for the questions in the text. Of course, when we find a question in the Torah, it is there to help move the story along. But there is another audience for every question. We are to take every question in the Torah and ask that question of ourselves.
So, when God calls to Adam and Eve saying, “Where are you?” that is a question...Read more...
Vayechi: December 22, 2018
Shabbat Shalom
We have come a long way in the book of Genesis. At the very beginning, in the first chapters, God asks the question to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” and Cain answers “Am I my brother’s keeper?’ God then replies, “Wrong Answer!” Now you will be punished for killing your brother.
The entire book of Genesis is about God looking for a better answer to the question, “Where is your brother?”...Read more...
Vayigash: December 15, 2018
Shabbat Shalom
There is an apartment for sale in Florida, it is reasonably priced, only a short block from the beach, with a heated pool. It is a small building with nice neighbors. It belonged to my parents before they died, and this week, I went back for the first time since we sat Shiva for my mom there. It will probably be the last time I will see it as she left it.
Actually, it is not exactly as she left it. Much of our...Read more...
Mikketz: Call Waiting. December 8, 2018
כא וַיֹּאמְרוּ אִישׁ אֶל-אָחִיו אֲבָל אֲשֵׁמִים אֲנַחְנוּ עַל-אָחִינוּ אֲשֶׁר רָאִינוּ צָרַת נַפְשׁוֹ בְּהִתְחַנְנוֹ אֵלֵינוּ וְלֹא שָׁמָעְנוּ עַל-כֵּן בָּאָה אֵלֵינוּ הַצָּרָה הַזֹּאת.
They said to one another, “Alas, we are being punished on account of our brother,...Read more...
Vayeshev: December 1, 2018
Shabbat Shalom
There is a meme that has been going around for a long time that attempts to simplify Jewish History. Rather than memorize the names of the holidays, remember the ritual items needed for the holiday and look up the foods we need to eat, all one needs to remember is “They attacked us, we won, lets eat!” Maybe with the exception of Yom Kippur, we can use this on almost any Jewish holiday, including Hanukah, which...Read more...
Vayishlach: Detente. November 24, 2018
י וַיֹּאמֶר יַעֲקֹב אַל-נָא אִם-נָא מָצָאתִי חֵן בְּעֵינֶיךָ וְלָקַחְתָּ מִנְחָתִי מִיָּדִי כִּי עַל-כֵּן רָאִיתִי פָנֶיךָ כִּרְאֹת פְּנֵי אֱלֹ’ וַתִּרְצֵנִי.
But Jacob said, “No I pray you; if you would do me this favor, accept from me this gift; for to see your face is like seeing the face...Read more...
Vayetze: November 17, 2018
Shabbat Shalom
At the very beginning of our Parsha, Jacob, after spending the night alone in the desert, after a dream about angels accompanying him on his journey, makes a strange vow before God. He says, “If God remains with me, If God protects me on this journey that I am making, and gives me bread to eat and clothing to wear, and if I return safe to my father’s house – the Lord shall be my God and this stone which I have set...Read more...
Toldot: This Most of All, To Thine Own Self Be True. November 10, 2018
וַיֶּאֱהַב יִצְחָק אֶת-עֵשָׂו כִּי-צַיִד בְּפִיו וְרִבְקָה אֹהֶבֶת אֶת-יַעֲקֹב
Isaac favored Esau because he had a taste for game; but Rebekah favored Jacob
(The Hebrew כִּי-צַיִד בְּפִיו (ki tzayid b’fiv) can be translated literally as “for that which is trapped was in his...Read more...
Chaye Sarah: November 3, 2018
Shabbat Shalom
Ever since the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem, the world has asked the question; “What are we to do with the Jews?” For two thousand years, without a homeland to return to and without a country to protect us, we have wandered for 2000 years as stateless refugees, depending on the goodwill of people and governments to establish our homes. So many times, throughout history, we were attacked,...Read more...
Vayera: God Give Me Patience...And I Want It Now! October 27, 2018
יז וַיִּשְׁמַע אֱלֹהִים אֶת-קוֹל הַנַּעַר
“And God heard the voice of the boy …” (Bereishit 21:17)
Consider:
I live in the United States and as far as I can tell we value tackling problems head on and solving them once and for all. Once we set our minds to something we expect to see results and to see them right away.
This demand for a quick turnaround shows up in all areas of our...Read more...
Lech Lecha: October 20, 2018
Shabbat Shalom
Sydnie, when the Rabbis of the Talmud thought about Avram becoming Abraham, they realized that his name change was related to the fact that he had the remarkable ability to see things that other people just could not see. Everyone in the world, at that time, saw the different forces of nature and agreed that each force was a separate god...Read more...
Bereishit: A Timeless Classic; One More Time! October 6, 2018
וַיֹּאמֶר ה אֶל-קַיִן אֵי הֶבֶל אָחִיךָ וַיֹּאמֶר לֹא יָדַעְתִּי הֲשֹׁמֵר אָחִי אָנֹכִי.
“The Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” And he said, “I do not know, Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Bereishit 4:9)
Consider:
Starting Genesis again? We read it last fall. And we read it the year before that, and the year...Read more...
Haazinu: God As The Divine Parent of Us All September 22, 2018
י יִמְצָאֵהוּ בְּאֶרֶץ מִדְבָּר וּבְתֹהוּ יְלֵל יְשִׁמֹן יְסֹבְבֶנְהוּ יְבוֹנְנֵהוּ יִצְּרֶנְהוּ כְּאִישׁוֹן עֵינו
“He found him in a desert region, In an empty howling waste. He engirded him, watch over him, Guarded him as the pupil of His eye.” (Devarim 32:10)
Consider:
The holiday of Sukkot draws...Read more...
Yom Kippur: September 20, 2018
Gemar Tov, May this long fast day have a good ending for us all.
In the third chapter of Exodus, Moses arrives at the Burning Bush. He is curious; he is intrigued by the flames and amazed that the bush is not being consumed. And then he hears God’s voice to take off his shoes. The dialogue is quite amazing. God tells Moses that the suffering of the Israelites has been heard in heaven. God has set the divine mind to rescue them and...Read more...
Kol Nidre: September 18, 2018
As we begin our observance of Yom Kippur, I wish everyone a Tzom Kal, an easy fast for the next 26 hours.
“Do you love me?” We know that quote. From the play, “Fiddler on the Roof”. “Do I WHAT?” “Do you love me?” “Do I love him?” “Well?” Sung by Tevye and his wife Goldie, they discuss how much the world has changed in the 25 years since their arranged marriage. They have discovered that their new world is...Read more...
Vayelech: September 15, 2018
Shabbat Shalom
I recently came across a story of an old Lithuanian Jew who had survived the Holocaust, Siberia and many other tribulations of life. And yet, after all he had experienced, his faith was still intact. They asked this elderly man why, after all he had endured, that he never lost his faith? He told his friends that as a young man, his parents had sent him to one of the most prestigious Yeshivot in Europe. He was not such a...Read more...
Rosh Hashanah: September 10, 2018
L’Shana Tova U’metuka – May we all be blessed with a happy and sweet New Year.
In the last interview that the great American Jewish philosopher, Abraham Joshua Heschel, gave before his death, he spoke to Carl Stern, a reporter from NBC News. At the end of the interview, the reporter asked the philosopher if he had a message he would like to convey to his younger viewers. Heschel said, “I would say to young people a number...Read more...
Nitzavim: The Trial of Human Beings September 8, 2018
יט הַעִדֹתִי בָכֶם הַיּוֹם אֶת-הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת-הָאָרֶץ הַחַיִּים וְהַמָּוֶת נָתַתִּי לְפָנֶיךָ הַבְּרָכָה וְהַקְּלָלָה וּבָחַרְתָּ בַּחַיִּים
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day: I have put before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life” (Devarim...Read more...
