Ki Tavo and Bar Mitzvah of Joshua Hauer: September 1, 2018
Shabbat Shalom
Josh, this week is a pretty difficult Parsha to read. I am sure that you realize that there are good parts in life; vacations, ice cream and sleeping late are just a few examples. And you also know that there are the not-so-good parts of life; homework, Mondays and cleaning up your room. It is my job today to tell you that life can be so much better than what you know is good, and it can be so much worse than what you...Read more...
Ki Teze: August 26, 2018
Shabbat Shalom
At the very end of last week, we received the sad news that the singer, Aretha Franklin had died. She had earned the title, “The Queen of Soul” through her amazing range of musical hits that pointed to this honor. Her anthem, the song that was most prominent in her repertoire, the song that was well known to all her fans, was her version of a song written...Read more...
Shoftim: August 18, 2018
Shabbat Shalom
I saw a t-shirt a couple of weeks ago, it read; “Moses was the first person to download information from the cloud to his tablet.” I am sure that if Moses read that line he would have no idea what we are talking about for three reasons: One, he was talking to God, not a cloud. Two, God carved the tablets, and three, Moses would not understand English; he spoke only Hebrew and Egyptian.
I also know that the...Read more...
Re'eh: August 11, 2018
Shabbat Shalom
The superhero Spiderman begins the saga of his superpowers with a proverb that is well known to all Spiderman fans, “With great power comes great responsibility”. It is the lesson that underlies all of the adventures of the superhero. He can’t just walk away when people are in trouble. He must help, that is the price of the superpowers with which he has been blessed.
The proverb does not come from...Read more...
Devarim: July 21, 2018
ו ה’ אֱלֹהֵ-ינוּ דִּבֶּר אֵלֵינוּ בְּחֹרֵב לֵאמֹר רַב-לָכֶם שֶׁבֶת בָּהָר הַזֶּה.
The Lord our God spoke to us a Horeb, saying: “You have stayed long enough at this mountain.” (Devarim 1:6)
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Mattot- Maasay: July 14, 2018
Shabbat Shalom
This is the second Shabbat between the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av. Two fast days on the Jewish calendar that mark the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, once in the year 587 BCE and the again in 70 CE. These fast days are much older than Jerusalem; they have their roots in the journey of the People of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land. The 17th of Tammuz was the day that Moses came down from Mt. Sinai...Read more...
Pinchus: July 7, 2018
Shabbat Shalom
There is a story told by Stephen Covey about a battleship making its way in dense fog out on the ocean. A lookout has been posted on the bow of the ship to make sure that the way is clear. Suddenly the lookout calls, “There is a light ahead!” This means that they are in danger of a collision. “Where...Read more...
Balak: June 30, 2018
Shabbat Shalom
The line between church and state has always been a rather fluid line. I could easily go back to the Middle Ages to see how religious leaders basically blackmailed the political leadership to do as they demanded lest the political leadership be denied divine favor. But the reality is that political leaders and religious leaders have always tried to maintain a connection between the religious and political worlds....Read more...
Korach: June 16, 2018
Shabbat Shalom.
Korach is every leader’s nightmare. A leader works hard on behalf of the community. Helping people find their way forward. Teaching and explaining the difficulties of the road. Helping to develop the values...Read more...
Yizkor: May 21, 2018
Hag Sameach.
I was reading this week about Dr. Jeff Hoffman. I don’t know if you remember him, but he was one of the astronauts on the Space Shuttle, flying several missions during the 1980’s and 1990’s. His doctorate is in astrophysics. He is also Jewish. Retired...Read more...
Bamidbar: May 19, 2018
Shabbat Shalom
Donniel Hartman, the director of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, this week, in his Times of Israel online column, cited as a philosopher and teacher, wrote about “The Moral Challenge of Gaza”.
He writes; “The inhabitants of Gaza have every right and reason to demonstrate against the tragedy which is their life. Not only do they live under unforgiveable and deplorable conditions, no one is taking...Read more...
Emor: May 5, 2018
Shabbat Shalom
We celebrated Lag B’Omer this past week. It is a rather unusual date on the calendar. We are not sure where the celebration comes from (a sure sign that it probably has pagan roots) so later Rabbis come up with all kinds of reasons that the 33rd day of the Omer should be a holiday on the Jewish calendar.
Tradition tells us that...Read more...
Achray Mot-Kedoshim & Bat Mitzvah of Lily Gross: April 28, 2018
Shabbat Shalom
Lily, The late Rabbi Sydney Greenberg once wrote, “A loving parent does not show genuine love by telling a child, “Do whatever you want.” That would not indicate love, but a lack of concern and abdication of responsibility. The truly loving parent says to the child I care very much about you, and although I cannot live your life for...Read more...
Shemini: April 14, 2018
Shabbat Shalom.
In our parsha, the people of Israel are on the cusp of a new way of worshiping God. In the past, the family based religion of their ancestors will give way to a new central sanctuary where hereditary priests will officiate. Perhaps this change takes place as a result of the Golden Calf incident, where the tribe of Levi and the descendants of Aaron remain true to God as the other tribes focus on the golden image that...Read more...
Pesach: March 31, 2018
Shabbat Shalom.
Rabbi Marc Gellman, in his book, “Does God Have a Big Toe?” begins the story of Moses with a conundrum that God must deal with. He writes, “God needed a Jew who knew about freedom to get the people free and Moses was the only free Jew. … There was, however, on problem with picking Moses. Moses knew that he was free, but he did not know that he was Jewish. Nobody was Jewish in the Pharaoh’s palace and Moses...Read more...
Tzav: March 23, 2018
Shabbat Shalom.
A few years ago, my children introduced me to a new term, “First World Problems”. While I was aware of the problems of living in a third world country, I didn’t understand what a “First World Problem” was. They explained it to me with this example: A Third World Problem is trying to find food to eat. A first world problem is complaining that you can’t get good pizza in this town. A developing country might...Read more...
Tetzaveh: February 24, 2018
Shabbat Shalom.
This week’s Parsha is a fascinating look at the world of fashion design. Perhaps this is the result of the earliest edition of “Project Runway” as the design of the uniform of the High Priest and the uniforms of the other priests are described in great detail. The robes are designed with dignity and comfort in mind from head to foot.
But in order to find a deeper significance to the various parts of their...Read more...
Mishpatim: February 10, 2018
Shabbat Shalom.
When you start to study Talmud, the classic text of Jewish Law, the first thing you need to learn is how to think like a Talmud scholar. The logic of the Talmud is explained by the following story.
Two men fall down a chimney. One emerges with a dirty face and one emerges with a clean face. Which one washes his face? Now if you are a reasonable normal person, the answer to the question is really quite simple. A...Read more...
Vaera: January 13, 2018
Shabbat Shalom
“Who is the Lord that I should heed him? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go!” These words, spoken by Pharaoh in Egypt to Moses at the end of the parsha last week, set the stage for all that we will read in the Torah this week and next week. As a polytheistic nation, Egypt had plenty of gods to appeal to. Every aspect of life was determined by one god or another. Moses has come before Pharaoh with a...Read more...
Shemot: January 6, 2018
Shabbat Shalom
The Book of Bereshit/Genesis closes with the family of Jacob reunited and ready to face the future. The Book of Shemot/Exodus lets us know that this future is not going to all be wine and roses. A new Pharaoh arises who did not know Joseph and this new king begins a process that will lead to the enslavement of the People of Israel and set the stage for the Exodus from Egypt.
The commentators are full of irony...Read more...
Vayechi: December 30, 2017
Shabbat Shalom
One of the things we learn when we study the Bible is that any Parsha that has in its name “Chai”, “Life”, usually means that someone in the Parsha will die. The Torah wants to keep the lessons upbeat; but death is also a part of life, so Torah also teaches us how to die with dignity.
Jacob, the third patriarch, is about to die. Unlike his father and grandfather, Jacob’s death is a lot more...Read more...
Vayigash: December 23, 2017
Shabbat Shalom.
There is a story that I have often told of a man who was late for services on his father’s Yahrtzeit. The only open seat was in the middle of the row and he was in a hurry because it was almost time for saying Kaddish. In his haste to get to his seat, he stepped on many toes of those who had taken their seats before him. The Rabbi saw what was happening and said to the man, “Where is it written that the mitzvah of...Read more...
Miketz: December 16, 2017
Shabbat Shalom and Hag Urim Sameach, a Happy Festival of Lights.
I was reminded this week, in an email from the Jewish Theological Seminary, about a very strange passage in the Babylonian Talmud.
When the first human being saw that the days were getting shorter and shorter, he said: “Oy! Woe is me; maybe because I have sinned the world is getting dark and is going to return to chaos!”...Read more...
Vayishlach & Jack Libow Bar Mitzvah: December 2, 2017
Shabbat Shalom
Jack, there is a famous story, told in many different ways, about a man named Itzik who lived in Cracow, Poland. He kept having a dream of a castle, a river and a bridge. The voice in the dream said that the river is the Vistula, the castle is in Budapest and under the bridge is a great treasure waiting for you. Jack, I can tell you that Itzik was no fool. One does not go traveling all over Europe because you have...Read more...
Noach & Bat Mitzvah of Jordana Benblatt: October 21, 2017
Shabbat Shalom.
Jordana, the story of Noah and the flood is a very complicated story. The two principle characters, God and Noah, leave us deeply unhappy with the way the story unfolds. I am not sure there is any effective way to tell this story of humanity’s failure, God’s remorse and Noah as the improbable savior of God’s human project.
Just last week, God appraised the creation of humanity as “very good”; today...Read more...
Shemini Atzeret: October 12, 2017
Hag Sameach.
We certainly live in a world that is in need of redemption. We look to God, sometimes multiple times a day, to help us bring some kind of order and justice to the world. The Sages of the Talmud also looked for ways that ordinary people could act that would be of great help in making the world a better place.
In Massechet Megilla 13a Rabbi Eliezer says in the name of Rabbi Chanina, “One who teaches Torah in the...Read more...
Bereshit: October 14, 2017
Shabbat Shalom.
Last year, my son and his wife refused to attend a family party in Florida that was being arranged by my sister-in-law. My sister-in-law was so angry that they would not attend. My son said that they were afraid of the Zika virus that was now common in South Florida. My sister-in-law thought that was a silly reason to skip the party and was not timid to tell them so.
Two months later, they told Michelle’s...Read more...
Shabbat Sukkot 5778 – October 7, 2017
Shabbat Shalom and Moadim l’Simcha
It is October and you know what October is all about … Baseball playoffs. The regular season is over. The wild card games have already been played. And soon, we will be talking World Series. Now we get to see who the real stars are in baseball, the ones who come out of their slumps to bring victory to the team.
Everyone loves a winner and who wants to be associated with the losers....Read more...
Sukkot 1 5778 – October 5, 2017
Hag Samach
Having survived the Yamim Noraim, Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, we get this special holiday of Sukkot. If the Yamim Noraim are about teshuva and atonement, Sukkot is about pure joy. Sukkot is our harvest festival, a time to rejoice since the food for the season has been stored in and we are ready for whatever the winter may bring. Sukkot is the Thanksgiving of the Jewish calendar. A time to reflect on what we are grateful...Read more...
Yom Kippur Yizkor 5778 – September 30, 2017
Gemar Tov – may we have a good finish to our fasting this day.
Yizkor, – Memory, this is the service of memory for those who have died. The very word Yizkor can bring Jews back to the synagogue when all other reasons for return are forgotten. When I was a child my Rabbi told a story about a man who complained that every time he came to shul, the Rabbi was asking for money. The Rabbi replied, maybe you ought to come to shul...Read more...
