December 13, 2024 ()
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December 13, 2024 ()
A short reflection on Vayetze (Genesis 28:10 – 32:3) Ladders and I aren’t the best of friends. I am always filled with confidence when stepping on the first few rungs but once I get six feet up I begin to have some doubts. My fear probably comes from a time in my 30’s when I […]
A short reflection on Toldot (Genesis 25:19 – 28:9) The words we say matter. They can be blessings or curses, because they have the ability to lift up someone’s soul as easily as drive a dagger through their heart. How often have you shared words that nearly destroyed a relationship? But, on the flipside, how […]
A short reflection on Chayei Sarah (Genesis 23:1 – 25:18) Visiting Israel is like going home. We all feel an indescribable bond as we take our first steps off our flight and push our way through passport control and customs. This feeling of belonging has been embedded in the bloodstream of every Jew starting with […]
A short reflection on Vayera (Genesis 18:1 – 17:27) I was 11 years old when my mother took me to see The Godfather. I sat there spellbound, sucking down milk duds and soda, thoroughly enjoying myself. Then suddenly, I couldn’t see anything. Darkness engulfed me. I was terrorized until I realized my mother had thrown her […]
A short reflection on Lech Lecha (Genesis 12:1 – 17:27) A war occurs in this week’s parasha, Lech Lecha. It is a war where invaders take innocent victims and force those that love them to battle for their safety. The hero is our ancestor Abram, soon to be renamed Abraham. He lives in the land […]
A short reflection on NOACH (Genesis 6:9-11:32) Our enemies chant the refrain, “you Jews are intruders, invaders and colonists in the land of Palestine, the land you call Israel.” By painting us as foreigners, it becomes an easy jump to claim we are agents of apartheid with no rights to the land. With the simplest […]
A short reflection on Bereshit (Genesis 1:1 – 6:8) Since last weekend’s Terrorist attack on innocent Israelis by Hamas terrorists, I have been living in the CNN news cycle where story after story speaks of the rising death toll in Israel, and all I can think about is senseless murder. I’ve been teaching Torah study […]
Ki Tavo – Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8 Rabbi Berukah was walking through a local market when he chanced upon the prophet Elijah. It was quite an unusual meeting given that they lived centuries apart. But, Elijah was a different kind of prophet so he came and went as he pleased. A few hundred years here and there made […]
Ki Teitzei – Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19 Our world is filled with safety precautions we can choose to use or to ignore. Sometimes ignoring makes sense. If you have no children in your house, by all means, flip over the child safety cap in order to make opening pill bottles simpler. But, other safeguards should always remain […]
A short reflection on Shoftim (Deut. 16:18-21:9) Shoftim, this week’s Torah portion, literally means “Judges.” So, what do you expect from a section of the Torah named Judges? Conversations about justice and Judges. Seems obvious. But, it also talks about the role of a future Israelite king. What is the relationship between justice, judges, and […]
