In this week’s Torah portion, Masei, Moses stands on the eastern banks of the Jordan River with Jewish people before they enter the land of Israel. Moses reviews and writes down all of the stops that the Jewish people had made during their travels...
By Rabbi Brigitte Rosenberg
• Published July 16, 2014
For the past few weeks, many of us have sat glued to the news and checked social media regularly, all in an effort to hear news of the goings on in Israel. Whether we have friends and family who live there or are visiting, or we know no one currently...
This commentary is dedicated to Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi – now of blessed memory. He was laid to rest July 4, 2014. His approach to Judaism ignited and reignited a passion for deep exploration of our sources and traditions. He modeled a spiritually...
There is an old cliché that continues to ring true: One can attract more bees with honey than with vinegar. It is a lesson that seems to be lost on the title character of this week’s Torah portion, Balak.Balak, the king of Moab at the time that our...
As I was preparing to write this message, I read a disturbing news article. Barbara Surk and John Heilprin of The Associated Press reported that the U.N. Commission on Refugees had announced that the number of men, women and children displaced from their...
Parashat Sh’lach L’cha records Moses’ sending of scouts to check out the Promised Land and the Israelite response. Ten of the 12 scouts recommend to not advance, and they persuade the people. That response is regarded as faithlessness and is one...
“And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Kushite woman whom he had married; for he had married a Kushite woman. 2. And they said, ‘Has the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? Has he not spoken also by us?’ And the Lord heard it.”...
I like to think of the Jewish people as ninjas. Hollywood has demonstrated to us again and again that ninjas function according to the fundamental principle of what has been coined the “Inverse Ninja Law.” Put quite simply, the Inverse Ninja Law...
Two May 4 events opportunities to unite in commitment to ‘transformation of a broken world’“And from the day on which you bring the sheaf (Omer) offering, from the morrow of the rest day, you shall count for yourselves seven weeks. They must be...
Last week, I read an article online that left me feeling horribly guilty and upset with myself. It made me feel that not only was everything I do as a parent completely wrong, but also I was scarring my children for life. The next day, clearly not...
Four times the Torah instructs us to tell our children of the Exodus from Egypt. The Torah reads, “And you shall tell your child on that day...” The rabbis inferred from this repetition that there are four different kinds of children — the wise,...
The opening section of this week’s parashah, Acharei Mot, is especially familiar because it is also read publicly on Yom ha-Kippurim. The most memorable section is the “scapegoat” upon which Israel’s sins were transferred and sent out into the...
