Rabbi's Sermons

Shabat Shalom!

          The weekly Torah portion of this week is Chukat which presents us with a great challenge of faith. At the beginning of chapter 19, we can read the laws regarding the red heifer. For those who do not know about the subject, I will explain briefly. The red heifer is a cow whose fur color is reddish brown. The ashes...Read more...

Shabat Shalom!

          Besides the flag of Israel and the menorah, perhaps one of the most representative iconic images of the Land of Israel is the one having two characters carrying huge bunches of grapes on their shoulders. This image appeared several decades ago, on Israel's postage stamps, and is as old as the one that was found...Read more...

Shabat Shalom!

It is traditional that after the lighting of the Shabbat candles at home, or after the Kiddush, the father, or the mother if the father is not present, blesses his children with an emotional blessing. The sons are blessed: "May the Eternal make you like Ephraim and Menasseh" and the daughters: "May the Eternal make you like Sara, Rebekah, Rachel and...Read more...

Shabat Shalom!

The great Israeli writer and poet, Yehuda Amichai, wrote an interesting prose entitled: “דיוק הכאב וטשטוש האושר” – “The precision of the pain and the vagueness of the happiness”. The text translated into English reads as follows:

“I think about how accurately humans...Read more...

Shabat Shalom,

In this week's reading of the Tora, called EMOR, we can read one of the most famous laws, known in Latin as LEX TALIONIS or the Law of Talion (retaliation authorized by law), that can be found in three different sources in the Torah. In today’s Parsha, as written in the book of Leviticus 24:17 to 20: "18 And he...Read more...

Shabat Shalom

          Last week while we happily celebrated the Seder Pesach, 133 families in Israel were painfully remembering what freedom means for their relatives still hostages with Hamas… during this week you surely watch the news about dozens of students at the University of Columbia and other campus from different cities in the USA, students that were...Read more...

Shabat Shalom

          Those who read the weekly Torah portion - metzora, will surely remain with lots of questions about the meaning behind the almost mysterious ritual of the purification from leprosy. Chazal our sages, could not interpret the secret behind the ritual cleansing of a patient after his recovery, and Maimonides himself, despite his profession as...Read more...

A framed quote from Proverbs hangs on my wall, a gift from someone who drifted in and out of this community during my time here:

פיה פתחה בחכמה ותורת חסד על לשונה

She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue (Proverbs 31:26).

That picture stands as an intention for me to pause...Read more...

June 10, 2023 - 21 Sivan, 5783

At Swarthmore College, the students often played what we called “Misery Poker.” It sounded something like this:

“I stayed up all night studying for a test today.”

“I stayed up the past two nights writing a paper.”

“I’ve been working all week on a project, while battling the flu!”

…and so on. Not realizing we were playing the game, we would up the ante...Read more...

June 2, 2023 - 14 Sivan, 5783

Right now, our Rabbinic Search Committee is working tirelessly to find a solution for the mess that I have created in leaving on such short notice. The committee is posting job descriptions, reviewing applications, and conducting interviews. Through it all, they are asking the big question - what is our community looking for in a spiritual leader? As I look back over the past four years, and as I look...Read more...

April 22, 2023 - 1 Iyyar, 5783

On this journey from Pesah to Shavuot, from freedom to joyful responsibility, we embrace Rosh Hodesh Iyyar as a celebration of our freedom of time and all of the responsibilities that come with it. Before our ancestors leave Egypt, Exodus 12:2 establishes that freedom and responsibility for the people Israel as a whole. As the Israelites prepare for the tenth plague and the Exodus from Egypt, God gives...Read more...

April 7, 2022 - 17 Nisan 5783

“Let all who are hungry, come in and eat; let all who are in need come and join us for Pesah!” 

כָּל דִּכְפִין יֵיתֵי וְיֵכֻל,כָל דִצְרִיךְ יֵיתֵי וְיִפְסַח

It is a lovely statement but not one we often take seriously. At our synagogue, we conduct our seder inside a building guarded by security and an...Read more...

March 24, 2023 - 3 Nisan, 5783

Today, we explore Vayikra’s second category of offering, the minhah or meal-offering. While the minhah offering is prescribed for various purposes, some voluntary and some required, most forms of the minhah offering are based in unleavened, unprocessed flour. As Baruch J. Schwartz writes in The Jewish Study Bible:

This gift offering of grain, before it has fully...Read more...

March 18, 2023 - 25 Adar, 5783

Of all of the fascinating aspects of Southern culture, opening the door for others stands out as one of my favorites. No one has to open the door for someone else; most people could easily open a door for themselves. And yet, Southerners show respect for one another by taking one extra moment to stay behind and stand at the door while others enter or exit. We show respect by doing a little bit extra, by...Read more...

February 18, 2023 - 27 Sh'vat, 5783

Leading up to Yom Kippur a few years ago, Rabbi Avi Weiss published a positive confessional to be said alongside the traditional Vidui, that prayer that mentions all the terrible things we have done in the past year. Instead, Rabbi Weiss writes, “We have loved. We have blessed. We have grown. We have spoken positively,” and so on. When Rabbi Weiss’ prayer went public, my rabbi and boss Rabbi...Read more...