Each year, as we reread the powerful words of the Book of Deuteronomy in our synagogues, I can’t help but notice how germane its wise teachings are to the season in which we find ourselves: the Days of Awe, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, which we will...

Justice is elusive. We learn this from this week’s Torah portion,  the famous tzedek tzedek — justice reiterated and pursued (Deuteronomy 16:20) — a reminder that justice, true justice, transformative justice, necessary justice, requires us to...

From “Stories for Public Speakers,” compiled and edited by Morris Mandel: “A man was marooned on an island for years. One day, he saw a ship in the distance and signaled to it. A boat was sent out to him. As the boat approached the shore...

Whenever I start to study this week’s Torah Portion, Eikev, Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25, I am drawn to one particular verse. It is Deuteronomy 8:10, the context of which refers to the bounty of the Promised Land and the food it will provide. The verse states:...

If you have been paying close attention to social media or advertisements on television, you have noticed that as summer began, more and more people returned to traveling. This is due in large part, of course, to the fact that, overall, people...

Have you met the daughters of Zelophehad? They are the five brave women we encounter in this week’s Torah portion (Parashat Pinchas), in which we hear their impassioned plea to Moses regarding their and their deceased father’s right to inherit...

It was called the Miracle on Ice. I remember watching the United States ice hockey team made up of scrappy and determined amateurs and college students defeat the Soviet Union in the Olympic semifinals. It was 1980 in Lake Placid, N.Y. The Soviet...

Not much is more disconcerting than members of one’s tribe engaging in passionately bitter and contentious arguments about leadership and hierarchy. “Who says you are the voice of this family? You don’t speak for me!” “Just because you had some...

We are told in Pirkei Avot (4:17) that there are three crowns, and “the crown of a good name surpasses them all.” This cliché, of course, has been used endlessly; yet, it is still relevant.  In our parsha, Sh’lach L’kha, we have the renowned...

After my transfer to a new elementary school in the fourth grade, I was offered the opportunity to play a musical instrument. Music had always been a huge part of my life, whether in synagogue, which I attended each Shabbat morning with my grandfather,...

It’s been more than a year since I began reading the Torah through COVID-colored glasses. Or perhaps more aptly, I’ve been reading Torah this year through a mask. Familiar stories and concepts in the Torah read differently from home, on Zoom, streaming,...

When we enter the world of the Book of Numbers, Bamidbar, In the Wilderness, I harken back to the discomfort of my own camping experiences. There was always grumbling from me or my brother. Yet the wilderness is the place of revelation. True, its...