Last Shabbat, I witnessed the hundredth anniversary of the SAJ , Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan’s home base on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Virtually, of course, but I felt very much present in the small bright sanctuary of what was…
Torah Thoughts Mishpatim – Exodus 21:1-24:18 – “The Power of Our Relationships”
Exodus 21:1-24:18 On Martin Luther King Day (which also happened to be Tu BiShevat), of all days, the Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church USA, Dr. J. Herbert Nelson II, issued the following statement, “The continued occupation in Palestine/Israel is…
Torah Thoughts – Yitro – Exodus.18.1-20.23 – “Our Collective Goose Pimples”
Exodus.18.1-20.23 It is hard to describe the emotions Ashirah and I felt when we heard the news. Our friend Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker and the three congregants being held hostage with him in Colleyville, Texas, were free. As a colleague wrote…
Torah Thoughts – BeShalach – Exodus 13:17-17:16 – “When Can We Finally Sing?”
Exodus 13:17-17:16 There was a funny moment at my son’s soccer game when a player that rarely scores, scored not one, but two goals. As the team whooped and hollered in celebration, the coaches had to tamp down the excitement. …
Torah Thoughts – Bo – Exodus 10:1-13:16 – “Did that really just happen?”
This week’s Torah portion, Bo, is part of a four-week odyssey describing the way God rescued us from Egypt using signs and portents. In modern lingo, we call these pyrotechnics. This is most especially true of the final plagues –…
Torah Thoughts – Thoughts – Vaera – Exodus 6:2-9:35 – “Happy New Year CSS”
One hundred years ago, the world had just recovered from the Great War and a deadly global pandemic. The world was in the mood for celebration as cars chugged across city streets, telephones rang in front offices around the world,…
Torah Thoughts Vayeitzei – Genesis.28.10-32.3 – “A Jewish Love Story”
Genesis.28.10-32.3 In this week’s Torah portion, Vayeitzei, Jacob is on the lamb, traveling hundreds of miles back to his family in Haran, alone, scared and desperate. At the foot of the well, he encounters a beautiful maiden. He runs to…
Torah Thoughts – Toldot – Genesis 25:19-28:9 – “The Hard Work of Linking Generations”
Genesis 25:19-28:9 This past Shabbat afternoon, a remarkable thing happened as Levi Kabakov stood before the Torah at Congregation Shir Shalom. By choosing to become a Bar Mitzvah he had reconnected the entire family with its Jewish ritual past that…
Torah Thoughts – Vayera – Genesis.18.1-22.24 – “Positively Modern”
Genesis.18.1-22.24 When we say it was a disaster of Biblical proportions we immediately think of this week’s Torah portion Vayeira, and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis Chapter 19. As the story goes, the inhabitants of these two…
Torah Thoughts – Lech Lecha – “L’chi Lach: Our Jewish Women Trailblazers”
Genesis 12:1-17:27 This Jewish year, we celebrate key anniversaries for two of the most important milestones in Jewish Femenist history: the first Bat Mitzvah and the first woman rabbi in America.On March 18, 1922, at the Society of Advancement of…