Dvarim
Parashat D’varim
By Doug Alpert This week we commence reading the Book of Devarim (Deuteronomy). In our quest to understand Torah and apply it to our own existence we are naturally prone to see it through the lens of our own experience. … Continue reading »
Parashat V’etchanan:
The Last Lecture By Sandra Kilstein The bittersweet stage of the Jewish calendar cycle is reflected in the overtones of Parashat V’etchanan. The feelings of having made it through the Three Weeks of mourning parallels the feeling of relief and … Continue reading »
Parashat Ha’azinu
By Rabbi Malka Drucker We wander through life searching for bridges to move us closer to each other and nearer to God. Parashat Ha’azinu shows us how to build bridges between heaven and earth while being, itself, as the last … Continue reading »
Parshat Nitzavim/VaYelekh
By Bruce Alpert A number of years ago, I was part of a synagogue committee that evaluated the then new, gender-neutral edition of the Reform movement’s Gates of Prayer. The new siddur offered revised versions of several of the older … Continue reading »
Parashat Ki Tavo
By Rabbi Emily Korzenik Very early in the portion, Ki Tavo presents the Torah as familiar and beloved. My father was wandering Aramean and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there, few in number; and he became there a … Continue reading »
Parashat Ki Tetzei
By Rabbi David Greenstein According to traditional enumerations of the mitzvoth (commandments) in the Torah, our portion includes 74 ordinances, more than any other portion. These mitzvoth encompass the full range of the Torah’s concerns for how we are to … Continue reading »
Parashat Shoftim
By Eleanor Pearlman The first verse of Parashat Shoftim (Deut. 16:18) sets a tone of much of what follows in the parashah: ‘Shoftim v’shotrim teiten l’kha b’khol sh`arekha Asheir Adonai Elohekha notein l’kha-lish‘vatekha V’shaftu et ha-`am mishpat tzedeq’ ‘Judges and … Continue reading »
Parashat Eqev
By Rabbi Eric Hoffman Someone was leading worship in the presence of the Talmudic sage Rabbi Chanina. In the Avot benediction he extended the string of adjectives for Ha-Eyl: ‘the God, the great, the heroic, the awesome, the mighty, the … Continue reading »
Parashat Re’eh
By Irwin Huberman During periods of war and conflict, it is difficult to get up every day with a feeling of hope and optimism. On a daily basis, the Biblical commandment to ‘love your neighbour as yourself’ (Lev. 19:18) is … Continue reading »
Parashat Va’Etchanan
by Joan Lenowitz In this week’s parashah Moses continues to relate the history of the peoples’ journey toward the Promised Land. Whereas the first chapters of the Book of Deuteronomy deal primarily with how the nearby nations were to be … Continue reading »