The final words of last week’s Torah portion tell us of the death of Avram’s father. It is in this moment of grief and mourning that our parshah this week begins with the words, “Vayomer Adonai el Avram: Lech L’cha.” God spoke to Avram and said “Lech l’cha.” Not...
Don't be a slut, but also don't be a prude. Don't be so emotional, but don't be cold-hearted. Prioritize your family over your career, but you must be on call for the office 24/7. Cover up to avoid unwanted attention, but don’t dress so frumpy. Speak up in the...
A Torah scroll is written by a Sofer, or scribe. The scribe must follow a lot of rules that govern how a Torah is written, on what, with which ink, and with which tools. Torah scrolls must be meticulously copied and not written by memory to ensure that each is...
“For over the Tabernacle a cloud of G-d rested by day, and fire would appear in it by night, in the view of all the house of Israel throughout their journeys.” Thus ends the book of Exodus, and our Torah portion, Parshat P’kudei. Cloud and fire are powerful symbols...
“G-d formed the human from the dust of the earth. Blowing into his nostrils the breath of life, the human became a living being.” (Gen 2:7). The soul, given by G-d, animates the human, which is nothing but dust until awakened with feeling and color, and something...
Every week, we sing these words from Parshat Ki Tisa: “V’shamru v’nei Yisrael et hashabbat.” The people of Israel shall keep Shabbat, observing Shabbat throughout the ages as a covenant for all time.” What does it mean to “keep shabbat?” Jews have diverse opinions...
Below is the sermon that I delivered at The Reform Temple of Rockland on 1/20/23 on Parshat Va'Eira: “But the Eternal stiffened the heart of Pharoah, and he would not heed them.” Parshat Va’Eira brings up for me year after year the question of free-will. Pharoah was...
This was sermon for Parshat Sheimot (Delivered via Zoom 12/24/21) In this week’s Torah portion, Parshat Shemot, we read that “a new king arose who did not know Joseph.” Because he did not know, learn or...
This past Shabbat, I was having a conversation with one of our congregants, Lillian Spier. Lillian just turned one-hundred years old. I half-jokingly asked her what the secret was to her longevity. I expected her to talk about being active, making healthy eating...
I have just returned from a wonderful four day cantorial conference in Atlanta, GA. The theme of the conference was social action. So many times over the course of the week people spoke about how helpless they felt in the face of so much horror happening in our...