It Remains a Dream (Ki Teitzi)
Fifty seven years ago today, Martin Luther King Jr. stood at theLincoln Memorial, and delivered a speech that is indelibly woven into our ideals and our hopes.
Tag: Torah · 62 sermons
What Does it Mean to be Free?
Tomorrow, we celebrate America’s independence; our freedom. Whereas July 4 is by no means a Jewish holiday, its themes of independence and freedom are central to Judaism.
Publicizing the Miracle of Judaism
A few weeks ago (in December), I was a participant in the Union for Reform Judaism’s Biennial Conference. During one of the sessions, the president of the URJ, Rabbi Rick Jacobs, spoke to all the participating graduates…
Diverging on the Path of Least Resistance (Lech L’cha)
This week’s Torah portion of Lech L’cha contains one of Judaism’s most well known stories. In fact, I would probably place God’s command to Abraham of go forth and journey, Lech L’cha, as one of the five most important…
The Broken Tablets Are Holy Too (Eikev)
These weeks leading up to the High Holidays motivate us to start doing the important, holy work of t'suvah. The word, t'suvah itself means 'return,' or 'turn.' But as I’ve said before, this return is not a return to the…
The Footsteps of Halachah (B'Chukotai)
In this portion, the last in Leviticus, God promises heaps of reward and blessing for following the statues. God prefaces all of the blessings with this verse: If you walk in my statues, and keep my commandments, and do…
Strange Fire (Sh'mini)
There's no way around it, sometimes our Torah is troubling. When dealing with problematic passages from the Torah, we sometimes engage in a kind of intellectual and theological sanitization of the text so that the verses…
Jacob's Ideal Death Teaches Us How to Live (Vayechi)
If there is such a thing as an ideal death, it is described here in Parashat Vay'chi. Jacob is on his deathbed. Joseph is with him in addition to his eleven other sons. Jacob is able to give each one of them a prediction…
Drawing Near to God and Ourselves (Vayera)
I have always been fascinated with the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. God informs Abraham that Sodom will be destroyed due to the wickedness of the people there. Abraham then questions God's decision.
Noah's Ark & Climate Change (Noah)
The earth was corrupt before God; it was filled with lawlessness. When God saw how corrupt the earth was, God said to Noah, I have decided to put an end to all flesh, for the earth is filled with lawlessness because of…
… And There's Work to Be Done (Vayikra)
Kohelet said, There is nothing new under the sun. In many ways, our society is quite different than it was several thousand years ago. But there are also many similarities. Similar to us, our ancestors looked at the…
Will God Dwell Amongst Us Again? (T'rumah)
This week's Torah portion, T'rumot, contains a powerful and oft-quoted verse from Torah, Let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell amongst them. (Exodus 25:6)
A Burden of One (Yitro)
This Torah portion features the giving of the Ten Commandments. But before that, there is a small but incredibly important exchange between Moses and Yitro.
Passion Without Compassion (Pinchas)
Our Torah portion of Pinchas starts with God giving him high praise: Pinchas, son of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the Israelites by displaying among them his passion for me.
A King, a Prophet and the Western Wall (Balak)
18 months ago, I was excited to stand on this bima and talk about the Western Wall agreement that would give men and women the chance to pray at the Western Wall together, free from the shackles of ultra-Orthodox…
Fact, Not Truth (B'chukotai)
There's a fantastic scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in which Dr. Jones is explaining to his class the basics about archeology. Archeology, he says, is the search for fact. It is not the search for truth.
You Shall Be Holy (K'doshim)
You shall be holy, for I, the Eternal your God, am holy. Like last week, we again have a double Torah portion this week. I chanted from the first, Achrei Mot, but I want to talk tonight about the second. It is called…
The Limitations of Our Sight (Ki Tissa)
This Torah portion, Ki Tissa, makes for a fantastic dramatic television series. God continues to command the building of the tabernacles. Moses is on Mount Sinai with God for 40 days. The Israelites complain to Aaron…
To Exist or to Live, That Is the Question (Vayechi)
And Jacob lived 17 years in the land of Egypt. This is how this week's portion begins. It's name, Vayechi, means, and he lived. A midrash teaches that this opening verse signifies so much more than the fact that Jacob…
There's More Than One Way (P'kudei)
Now that we are free, the real work begins. This Torah portion of P'kudei concludes the building of the Tabernacle. The Israelites left Egypt, and in the last several portions, we have watched as they have followed the…
Enough Prayers, It's Time to March (Yitro)
51 years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. led three marches between Selma and Montgomery, Alabama. These marches were meant to highlight the social injustices against African-American citizens. Specifically, black Americans…
In a Place Where There Is No Man, Be One (Noah)
I'm guessing that many of you are familiar with Ghandi's exhortation to be the change that you wish to see in the world. I don't know if Ghandi was a Talmudic scholar, but it does not come as a surprise to me that a…
Deuteronomy Is Revisionist History, and Here's Why (D'varim)
On this Shabbat, we begin the 5th book of the Torah, Deuteronomy. The name of the book derives from two sources, one Hebrew and one Greek.
Rick Santorum, the Pope and the Menorah (B'haalot'cha)
Earlier this week, presidential hopeful Rick Santorum criticized Pope Francis for getting involved in scientific matters. In the past year, the Pope has urged his more than one billion followers to act more responsibly…
Strange Fire, Tragic Fire (Sh'mini)
One month ago, a family in Brooklyn started to celebrate Shabbat. Gabriel Sassoon, father of eight children, was at a Jewish conference away from home. His wife Gayle was taking care of their children. I imagine that…
Building a Sanctuary of Identity (Ki Tissa)
The beginning of this portion, Ki Tissa, starts with a census. God commands Moses to count the heads of the Children of Israel. This census is interesting, especially when compared to the two previous Torah portions.
When Will God Appear? (Va'era)
Shabbat Shalom. The past week has been a difficult one. In the span of a few days, terrorists killed 17 people in France. The four Jewish citizens at the kosher grocery store were buried in Israel for fear that their…
This Is Not a Feel-Good Story (Korach)
Tonight, I'm going to talk about Korach. Korach was a first cousin to Moses and Aaron. He challenged their authority, claiming that the priesthood should belong to him. The story ends with the earth swallowing up Korach…
The Plague of Gossip (Metzora)
You may remember that earlier in Exodus, God commands the building of the tabernacle. The measurements are precise and exacting - a certain number of cubits for this ... a specific color for that ... God doesn't just…
Does Everything Happen for a Reason? (Sh'mini)
Everything happens for a reason. Many of us have probably said this, and if not, we’ve certainly heard it. Someone loses a job, ends a relationship, or the Bulldawgs lose a game. And to make sense of these sorts of…
Drawing Close to God (Vayikra)
This week starts the beginning of the middle book of our Torah, Leviticus. The editors of the Torah were the Levites, the priestly caste that enforced all of the laws and rituals that pertained to the Israelites. It is…
Is Shabbat Really a Day of Rest? (Vayak'heil)
These are the things that the Eternal has commanded you to do: On six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you have a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Eternal, whoever does any work on it shall be put to…
Jews Like to Touch Things (Ki Tissah)
Jews like to touch things. When we parade the Torah around the congregation in the hakafah, we place our prayerbook onto the Torah cover and then kiss it. Some of us will tap a finger onto a mezuzah before entering a…
The Best Gift You Can Give (T'rumah)
Why do we need this sanctuary? This room, with its Torahs and arks, the pews and prayerbooks, the ark and the Torah. Don't get me wrong, I love when we gather in here, especially when the heat is working ... There's a…
Trust in God, But Tie Your Camel (B'shalach)
Here is the translation of the first two verses that I chanted from this week's Torah portion, Bshalach. And God said to Moses, 'Why do you cry out to me? Speak to the children of Israel that they should move! And you,…
The Miracle(s) of the Plagues (Bo)
One day the Pharoah awoke in his bed, there were frogs on his pillow and frogs on his bed. Frogs on his nose and frogs on his toes. Frogs here … Frogs there … Frogs were jumping everywhere.
Dreaming & Living: Joseph & Mandela (Vayigash)
Our rabbis point to this week's Torah portion, Vayigash, as a central story of t'suvah. Many years earlier, Joseph's brothers sold Joseph into slavery. They deceived their father into thinking that his youngest and most…
I Will Not Let You Go Until You Bless Me (Vayishlach)
In this portion, Jacob does tsuvah. Earlier, he and his mother conspired so that his dying father Isaac would bestow a blessing upon Jacob instead of on the first-born, Esau. Fearful for his life, Jacob ran away from…
75th Commemoration of Kristallnacht (Vayetzei)
This morning, many of my colleagues and friends were commenting on an article in the New York Times. It was the front page of the New York Regional section. It begins with an upsetting headline: Swastikas, Slurs and…
Drawing Near to God (Vayera)
Abraham got circumcised when he was 99, in this Torah portion. His changed name of Avraham highlights the importance of the sacred covenant between himself and God. We now see him acting, praying, and thinking as a…
Journeys Are Not Only Geographical (Lech L'cha)
I want to talk about Geography. Immediately after Adam and Eve eat from the forbidden fruit, they hear the sound of God walking in the garden. They hide in the bushes, presumably ashamed at themselves for disobeying the…
The Comfort of Noah (Noach)
(singing) God said to Noah, we’re going to build an arky arky God said to Noah we’re going to build an arky arky. Build it out of gopher barky barky, Children of the Lord.
Now Go and Study (Ki Teitzei)
Back in the first century, Hillel was asked to distill all of Judaism into one sentence. A brilliant rabbi and scholar, Hillel thought about Mitzvot, theology, customs, history and culture and came up with the famous…
Justice and Justice Again (Shoftim)
I remember walking out of my first orthodox service. I had lots of questions for my father – it was certainly a different experience than our classical Reform synagogue in South Florida. I remember being most intrigued…
Listening to the Sh'ma (Va'etchanan)
Sh'ma Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad - Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one. Our second portion of Deuteronomy, V'ethanan, contains this statement of belief. It is perhaps the best-known verse in the…
Words About Words (D'varim)
If you'll indulge me in a bit of self-reference, I'm going to use my words tonight to talk about words. God speaks the world into existence. Adam names all of the animals, thereby asserting both domination and…
Sometimes We Have to Listen to a Donkey (Balak)
This Torah portion has something in common with the movie Shrek. Both feature a talking donkey. The portion is named after the Moabite king, Balak. Balak wanted to destroy the Israelites. Rather than defeat the…
Some Things Just Don't Make Sense (Chukat)
Our Mitzvot are anything but simple. There are some commandments that we perform at a very specific time, such as the command to honor Shabbat. There are some that we observe in a specific place - there are rules and…
Are We Holy? (Korach)
Judaism repeatedly reminds us that argument and disagreement are a part of our religion. The backbone of the Talmud is impassioned argument, as rabbis argue with each other across the centuries, trying to figure out the…
Oklahoma Tornado, the Pope and the Boy Scouts (Beha'alotcha)
Shabbat is a time to reflect on the week that has passed. It is through reflection that we process our life experience, whether it be social encounters, work experiences, news stories, ephemera culled from the Internet,…
Choosing a Path, Choosing Life (B'chukotai)
This portion toward the end of Leviticus is similar to the rest of the book. God continues to instruct the Israelites regarding God's statues and laws. Unlike the previous few portions, however, God's commands in Behar…
I Call to God, God Calls to Me (Vayikra)
One of my favorite Torah passages occurs in the first portion of Exodus. Moses had just killed an Egyptian taskmaster, and Moses ran away to escape Pharoah's wrath. These short verses are a watershed moment for the…
Enough Already! (Vayakhel/P'kudei)
A few years ago, I got into electronic music production. I have what is known as a MIDI keyboard, a piano keyboard that plugs into my Mac via a USB chord. The keyboard itself is not a synthesizer; it makes no sounds on…
The Holiness of Broken Tablets (Ki Tissa)
Holiness. We often think of holiness as the pinnacle of our achievements, such as when we are at our best, our most thoughtful, our most patient, our most spiritual.
You Are Talented (T'rumah)
I have always loved talent shows. A few years ago in Omaha we decided to do a coffee-house talent show after a Havdalah service. I approached various congregants about participating. Often, someone would say, But rabbi,…
Which Hand Will You Pick? (Mishpatim)
All of us follow rules. One person speaks at a time. Raise your hand before you speak. Don’t hit other people. And, most of us, from time to time … don't follow rules. We speed – knowingly, see a police car, slow down,…
Take a Step Back: Moses, God and Tzimtzum (Yitro)
We have Shabbat for many reasons. From a legal, halachic perspective, we have Shabbat because it is commanded to us. Not only that, it's commanded to us in this very portion, as part of the ten commandments, the 4th…
Two Jews, Three Opinions … Why Do We Argue? (Vayishlach)
Jews often self effacingly quip about our penchant for arguing, for fighting. It's said like a badge of honor: Two Jews, three opinions.
Is It Two People or a Cup of Wine? The Answer Is Torah. (Toldot)
I love optical illusions. As a child, I would beg my parents to buy me the latest book filled with visible oddities and conundrums. This is one of my favorites: (show image) If looking at the black space, the form of the…
They're Just Words? (Matot)
The g'vurot is the second prayer of the Amidah. In it, we praise God's limitless power. The traditional prayer tells us that God is so powerful in fact, that God can M'chayeh Metim, resurrect the dead.
Intentions, Decisions, ACTions (Pinchas)
A poor woman had two children, and all of them were starving. One morning, the woman came upon a perfectly round egg. The children squealed with delight, excited that they would finally eat.
Be the Blessing (Balak)
"Ma Tovu Ohalecha Ya'akov" - How lovely are your tents, O Jacob. Traditionally, Jews say this prayer to themselves upon entering the synagogue. It helps put one in the framework of gratitude and joy, appropriate for…