Noted Torah commentator Robert Adler observed that the Book of Deuteronomy (D’varim) is “… the most sustained deployment of rhetoric in the Torah.” D’varim (sayings or speeches), by virtue of its root association, sets the tone for a series...

Amid this week’s double parashah, Matot-Massei, there are 49 verses, a lot of detail, describing the 42 journeys of the Jewish people through the desert, to the Land of Israel. It is almost like reading the journal of an explorer, with specific details...

In the year since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade as a national precedent for the right of women to choose whether or not to carry a pregnancy to term, 20 states have  passed legislation essentially revoking that right to choose....

As a teenager, I would sometimes (often) turn on the television while I enjoyed a post-school snack. At that time in human history, my options were to watch whatever show was on… or to dig through the cabinets in our living room, hoping that I would...

We are taught that our ancestor Joseph hid three treasures in Egypt. One was revealed to Korach; one to Antoninus, son of Asviros; and one was hidden away for the righteous in the world to come (Talmud, Pesachim 119a). I went searching for the third...

Following 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,...

In this week’s Torah portion, Shelach L’cha, the Israelites find themselves standing on the border of Eretz Yisrael, the land promised to their ancestors by God. After suffering for so long at the hands of the Egyptians, they will finally have a home...

The priestly blessing found in next week’s parashah, Naso, is one that has been an important part of our people’s story for three millennia.   In the days when the Temple stood in Jerusalem, the priests offered this blessing on behalf of G-d to...

It’s difficult to imagine that anyone dreams of becoming a census taker, of going door to door counting the number of inhabitants and recording their ages, their genders, their relationships, and then counting the number of rooms in their homes, even...

Nissan and Tishrei are arguably the most well-known Hebrew months because of Pesach and Rosh ha-Shanah; others like Tish’a b-Av, the 9th of Av, are known by their date, like the 4th of July. As we begin the fourth book of the Torah — B-midbar / Numbers...

I signed up months ago to write this week’s d’var Torah. I remember thinking what a fun parasha this would be to share with you all. I love the discussion of the jubilee year and of the gifts made to the sanctuary, and of the idealism that closes...

The religious philosopher Mircea Eliade speaks about religion as attempting to transform the chaos in our world into the cosmos. Essentially, he says that we take that which is unknown — that which can be different and scary — and try to make it known. We...