In Toldot, this week’s parashah, Isaac offers the following blessing to Jacob as he sends him from his home to find a wife with the clear hope that he will return to the land of his birthright: “May G-d bless you, make you fertile and numerous, so...

Torah Portion: Va-yeyra, Genesis 18:1-22:24 Many rabbis and cantors — myself included — have been asked: “What do you do if a Torah Scroll falls to the floor?” (For the answer, read on to the end.) For this Shabbat, here are two texts. First,...

Recently seen on Facebook: “Ese momento when publican un meme auf English, Deutsch und Espanol aber du are poliglota und expert in memes and du kannst camprender drei languages al miso Zeit.” The reader who is as enamored with languages...

Every year, as we study this week’s Torah portion, Bereshit, I find myself thinking of two remarkable rabbis.  The first rabbi I associate with Parashat Bereshit is Rabbi Sally J. Priesand. In 1972, Rabbi Priesand was ordained by the Hebrew Union...

Autumn fills my soul with beauty. I take delight in the crisp air, and the artist’s array of beautiful leaves. The audible crunch of leaves under my boots is an old familiar sound. I welcome dusk at an earlier hour. The long evening stretches ahead...

Growing up, I dreaded Yom Kippur. Not merely the frightening and guilt-evoking liturgy of sin and repentance, not only having to go 24 hours without food, but also for the mood and the obligations of this challenging day itself.  Our family spent...

Living Jewishly is intense (in the best sense of the word).  The Aseret Yemei Teshuvah, the Ten Days of Repentance, are upon us. The penultimate parsha, Ha’azinu could not be more poignant. Almost the entire parsha consists of Deuteronomy chapter...

A businessman boarded a plane to find, sitting next to him, an elegant woman wearing the largest, most stunning diamond ring he had ever seen. He asked her about it. "This is the Bexfield diamond," she said. "It is beautiful, but there is a terrible...

Ki Teitzei means when you leave. When we leave our expectations over the messes great and little, some we have made, some made for us. When we cease to compare the what-it-is to the what-we-wanted or the-way-it-was-supposed-to-be. When we leave behind...

“Justice, justice shall you pursue” is the double injunction found in Deuteronomy 16:20 and is the centerpiece of this section of the Torah we call Shoftim (Judges). The entire parasha is Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9 and begins by showing us, in...

Author Elie Wiesel tells the story of the one righteous man of Sodom, who walked the streets protesting the injustices of his city. People made fun of him, derided him. Finally, a young person asked:  “Why do you continue your protest against evil;...

Ekev also signifies “heel.” Every generation is a heel generation, in the sense that everything previous has contributed to everything we do, all previous actsrest on the heel of the present, and so every act, every word, every gesture, every mitzvah,...