Deuteronomy 26:1 – 29:8 There are few groups that have had to adjust their expectations more during the pandemic, thanthis year’s B Mitzvah class. Plans have had to be reworked once, twice, and, sometimes three or four times, with dates…
Torah Thoughts – Ki Tetzei Deuteronomy 21:10 – 25:19 – “How to Lift a Thousand Pound Ox”
Deuteronomy 21:10 – 25:19 The use of the word “ach” or “brother” is sprinkled throughout the Torah in very deliberate and intentional places, the most famous being the story of Cain and Abel, where Cain eludes God by questioning the…
Torah Thoughts – Shoftim – Deuteronomy 16:18 – 21:9 – “The Definition of a Good Judge”
Deuteronomy 16:18 – 21:9 Judge, or Shofet, was a relatively new concept in Biblical times. Four thousand years ago,people had started moving into larger and larger groupings – from small bands, to clans, tochiefdoms, and now to states. This increasingly…
Torah Thoughts – Vaetchanan Deuteronomy 3:23 – 7:11 – “How God Listens”
Deuteronomy 3:23 – 7:11 There is no more common a phrase in the Torah as, “Vayidaber Adonai El Moshe Le’mor,” which translates roughly to, “God spoke and Moses listened.” This phrase is so common that if you chose to memorize it…
Torah Thoughts – Devarim – Deuteronomy 1:1 – 3:22 – “The Long Winding Road to Freedom”
Deuteronomy 1:1 – 3:22 Growing up in Troy, Alabama, as the son of sharecroppers, John Lewis, of blessed memory, lived a very sheltered early life. By the age of eleven, he had seen exactly two white people, and had no…
Torah Thoughts – Matot-Masei – Numbers 30:2 – 36:13 – “Keeping Promises During Covid”
Numbers 30:2 – 36:13 This past weekend was a good example of why it so hard to keep obligations during the pandemic. Our synagogue community was celebrating three major events in the space of a few days, each of which…
Torah Thoughts – Chukat-Balak – Numbers 19:1 – 25:9 – “A July 4th Like None Other”
Numbers 19:1 – 25:9 Anyone who has ever cooked, knows the experience of realizing they do not have one of the key ingredients in a recipe they have already started to make. In such a situation, one can either give up,…
Torah Thoughts – Korach – Numbers 16:1 – 18:32 – “Cultural Appropriation”
Numbers 16:1 – 18:32 As a proud and flag bearing “Alex,” I know there are many things Jews borrowed from the Ancient Greeks. My name “Alex,” short for Alexander, is, of course, in honor of Alexander the Great, ruler of Macedonia…
Torah Thoughts – Shelach Lecha – Numbers 13:1 – 15:41 – “Why the Promised Land is Hard”
Numbers 13:1 – 15:41 As we have learned the last three months, the wilderness is a hard place to live for an extended period of time. But, so is the Promised Land. To explain, I refer you to my wife Ashirah’s…
Torah Thoughts – Beha’alotcha – “From a Distance We Are One”
Numbers 8:1 – 12:16 Looking at the pictures of people protesting throughout the world – from LA to New York, Paris to Melbourne – the words from a song from Bette Midler called out to me: “From a distance we…