Passover is about relationships.  Over and over, the Torah expresses the Passover Seder in intergenerationally related terms, such as:  “When your child shall ask you, ‘What is this service’ ” and, “And you shall say to them, ‘With a strong...

“Our tale begins in degradation and ends in praise.”This is more or less the entire original seder “script” outlined in the Mishnah nearly 2,000 years ago. It outlines not only the story of Exodus, but also a way of looking at Jewish and divine...

We conclude this week with a special Shabbat, Shabbat Ha-gadol/The Great Sabbath, the Shabbat that precedes Passover.The name Shabbat Ha-gadol is derived from Malachi 3:4-4:24, the Haftarah, or reading from the Prophets, for this Shabbat, which declares,...

In my teens, when I first started thinking of becoming a rabbi, I spent a summer shadowing several rabbis in St. Louis to get a sense of what they did every day and to try and imagine whether I could ever stand in their shoes. By the end of the summer,...

Sherlock Holmes is one of my favorite fictional characters of all time. The detective’s uncanny observational and deductive powers allow him to see so much about a person, and not merely what’s on the surface.  He can tell that you’re a pediatric...

Vayikra – And G-d called to Moses …  This week, as we begin the book of Vayikra/Leviticus, the relationship between G-d and the people begins to expand, as do the relationships between the people themselves. We shift from a narrative about others...

When I was in elementary school, I had a classmate who wore a shirt and tie to school every day. Although I remember his distinctive wardrobe choice decades later, I never spent much time thinking about his motives. Looking back, it would seem this was...

This week’s Torah portion, Ki Tissa, begins with a census. Moses is instructed to count the number of men available to be conscripted in the event of the need for self-defense against any enemy forces that might be encountered during their wandering...

“And you shall command the children of Israel, and they shall take to you pure olive oil, crushed for lighting, to kindle the lamps continually.”— Exodus 27:20Of the seven species associated with Israel, land of wheat, barley, grape, fig and pomegranate,...

As we begin this week’s portion, Terumah, the ancient Israelites have moved beyond the Ten Commandments and received a long list of qualifying do’s and don’ts in last week’s portion, Mishpatim.  They are finally given a break from all the listening...

In the narrative that makes up the book of Exodus, Parshat Mishpatim strikes one as the nadir of the story. Marvels and miracles are revealed week after week, from the bush that was burning but never consumed, to the 10 plagues in Egypt, to the splitting...

In a day and age in which some spend so much time arguing about differences and only respect opinions that come from those who are deemed “of similar views,” we should be encouraged by this week’s Torah portion, Yitro, and challenge ourselves to...