Friday Shabbat Shalom
Mar 8, 2024
We live in an age of great material abundance. It isn't unusual for families to own several automobiles, for their homes to display telephones and televisions in more than one room, even to have several computers at home. We own multiple refrigerators and freezers, lavish amounts of clothing, and recreate in private facilities that offer state-of-the-art amusement. With all the luxuries that Americans enjoy, it is surely anomalous that so many of us are bored and lonely. You would think that all our possessions and distractions would keep us buzzing contentedly … Yet that isn't the case.
Mar 1, 2024
This is a truth known viscerally to Jews today who hail from the unfree world — those from the former Soviet Union; those who were expelled from Iran and other autocratic regimes in the Middle East. And it is a truth faced daily by Jews in places that remain unfree. Just ask the Jews of Tunisia, who in October watched as a historic synagogue was reduced to rubble by a mob driven by false reports that Israel had bombed a hospital in Gaza.
Feb 23, 2024
This week’s Torah portion, Tetzaveh, means “You shall command” and refers to the many detailed instructions given to the children of Israel by G!D… I sometimes struggle with the idea of being “commanded” and some of the seemingly archaic aspects of Biblical Judaism, like the Temple service and animal sacrifices. However, a deeper dive into the parasha reveals something extraordinary and it is — you might even say — a revelation about our Peoplehood. As always, there are lessons for us as leaders in this resilient community of ours.
Feb 16, 2024
Moshe/Moses is told to inform the Jewish people that they should provide gifts to G!D that will be used to create the Mishkan, the portable sanctuary. For a commandment, the verse seems to leave a lot of room for personalization of its fulfillment. It's done אשר ידבנו לבו, i.e, according to the generosity of the heart of each individual person.
Feb 9, 2024
In the previous parsha, Yitro, we moved through the climactic and other-worldly giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai… And then you reach Mishpatim: a prosaic litany of civil legislation and everyday situations…. This juxtaposition tells us: you may have thought that the dramatic revelation at Sinai was the covenant, but the real covenant is right here, down in the muddy waters of everyday human relations.
Feb 2, 2024
Ever feel so alone when struggling with an adversity – health, financial, relationship – that it feels as if the world simply doesn’t understand or can’t relate to your pain? Could it be that in this week’s Torah reading, Moshe feels similarly, having experienced his own traumatic and exhausting experience, followed by anxiety and despair.
Jan 26, 2024
It is 80 years since the armed resistance that led to the Warsaw Uprising began… With only a small number of guns, gasoline bottles and other makeshift weapons, the Jews managed to temporarily overpower the Nazis. In this week’s parasha, Beshalach, we read about the incredible courage displayed by an early figure in our history. The Jewish people had been released from slavery in Egypt, only for Pharaoh to change his mind and chase after them with a large army.
Jan 19, 2024
The first three Torah portions of Sefer Sh'mot (the Book of Exodus) are the three portions that invite us to exist in Mitzrayim (Egypt), and it is here that I would invite us to dwell one more moment, despite our natural eagerness to leave the place of our degradation and enslavement… Why has the author left us here? Why did we have to stay in Mitzrayim during the ten plagues?
Jan 12, 2024
Hashem charges Moshe with a mission – to return to Egypt and demand from Pharaoh that he let the Jewish people go. Hashem tells him that he is the only person in the world who has the capacity to relay this message to Pharaoh. There’s only one problem: Moshe has a speech disability that left him with a stutter… Why would Hashem give a man with a speech impediment such an important task that depends on his ability to use words to convince?
Jan 5, 2024
Jew hatred is, and always has been, humanity’s canary in the coal mine, and this is why CAJE and Jewish education is so important. We must remain a distinctive people because we have a job to do in this world... to promote ethical monotheism (belief in a God who demands moral behavior) and to change the world for the better by challenging the gods, religious or secular, of the societies around us… we need to understand our traditions, believe in its sacred power to transform ourselves and the world, and live courageously as bearers of G!d’s hope for humanity.
