It is very easy in this busy month of holidays to be overwhelmed by all of the business of these past few weeks. Even I find myself constantly reviewing the calendar: When does this holiday end? When do services start? What time is sundown? And most importantly, what am I having for dinner? There is […]
Dvar Torah Bereshit; Creating a Welcoming Community
October 9th, 2015/26 Tishrei 5776 In the beginning, there were only words. From the primordial darkness, the words of creation echoed through the universe, and brought with them separation. Separation of light from darkness, earth from sky, good from evil. One side always opposite the other. But along with this separation, this separateness, relationship and […]
Parshat Vayigash
December 18th, 2015/6 Tevet 5776 To bless the new moon at the proper time is like greeting the Divine Presence — Talmud, Sanhedren 42a I don’t know why, but I seem to spend more time looking at the moon in the winter. As I head outside into the cold of night, the light of the […]
Parshat Miketz
December 11th, 2015/29 Kislev 5776 In this week’s Torah portion, we find Joseph stuck in Pharaoh’s prison. The Egyptian leader has been having dreams, yet he and none of his advisors can figure out their meaning, so he calls on Joseph to interpret them. Joseph hears the dreams and says that Egypt will undergo a […]
Dvar Torah; Sermon from October 2015
Simchat Torah This week we celebrate the final holiday of this season of joy, Simchat Torah. We gather together to complete the cycle of Torah readings, and roll the scroll back to once again start from the beginning of our story, the story of creation. Having spent a year discussing the people and events of […]
Parshat Lech Lecha
October 23rd, 2015/10 Cheshvan 5776 “Don’t stop after beating the swords into plowshares, don’t stop! Go on beating and make musical instruments out of them. Whoever wants to make war again will have to turn them into plowshares first.” – Yehuda Amichai, Israeli Poet I was hoping that it wouldn’t happen. I was hoping that we […]