by Joseph Morris While writing this column at the end of October, I was thinking about the past year. According to NOAA (parent organization for the weather service), 2022 was another warm year. For example, September 2022 tied with last…
Torah Thoughts – Vayishlach – Torah Portion: Genesis 32:4-36:43 – “Chelm Story Two: Fences and Bridges”
For the next few weeks, in preparation for Chanukah in Chelm on Friday, December 23, I will be sharing stories from the mythical shtetl of Chelm, a place where even the wise are foolish. This particular story is one I…
Torah Thoughts – Vayetzei – Genesis 28:10-32:3 – “Chelm Story Number One: Backwards Shoes”
In preparation for Chanukah in Chelm on Friday, December 23rd, I’ll be using my Torah Thoughts column these next few weeks to share some of my favorite stories from the mythical village of Chelm, a 19th Century shtetl whose residents…
Torah Thoughts – Toldot-Genesis 25:19-28:9 – “The Rule of One Hundred Blessings”
This week’s Torah portion, Toldot, provides us with the origin of the Jewish practice of offering one hundred blessings every single day. In Genesis 26:12, when Isaac survives his trial with Avimelech, he is given a “hundredfold” blessing by God. …
Torah Thoughts – Chayeh Sarah – Genesis.23.1-25.18 – “Moving Toward a Guilt Less Judaism”
To find the Genesis of Jewish guilt, one needs not look much further than the Book of Genesis. Before there is even a Judaism, there is a worry about not doing Judaism right. We saw it last week, when Abraham…
Torah Thoughts – Vayera – Genesis 18:1-22:24 – “Chance Encounters that Open Our Eyes”
In Chaim Potok’s seminal work, The Chosen a chance encounter between a pair of 15-year-olds, Reuven Malter and Daniel Sanders, leads to an unlikely friendship. On the surface, both boys have little in common – one a modern Orthodox son…
Torah Thoughts – Lech Lecha – Genesis 12:1-17:27 – “Lech Lecha Moments”
A few weeks ago, our Shabbat morning service group had a decision to make. After two years of pandemic precautions where we were almost exclusively on Zoom, it was time for us to return to in person gatherings. The only…
Torah Thoughts – Noah – Genesis 6:9-11:32 – “Noah’s 7 Lessons for Ecological Disasters”
The story of Noah from Genesis 6, perhaps one of the most popular in all of the Biblical canon, is now, in the 21st Century, probably one of its most important. Looking back at the ancient text we have not…
Torah Thoughts – Bereishit – Genesis.1.1-6.8 – “We’ve Got the Whole Torah in Our Hands”
When we unroll the Torah on Simchat Torah – which we did this past Sunday for the first time since 2019 – I often sing the song: “I’ve got the whole Torah in my hands.” There is something so special…
Torah Thoughts – Sukkot – Exodus 33:12-34:26; Numbers 29:26-31 – “Ritual Power”
There was a moment during Yom Kippur that was truly magical. It was during the Yizkor service, when I was reading the list of names of people who died in the past year. There was a large glass bowl sitting…