In looking through the Torah recently, I noticed something subtle but important. While most portions are relatively easy to find. Their initial verses are unusual enough that they stand out. This is not the case with either this week or…
Torah Thoughts – Ki Teitzei – Deuteronomy.21.10-25.19 – “Not All Torah Portions are Created the Same”
The look on Tina’s face said it all. “Isn’t there anything else in the portion we can take a look at?” she asked me, after we read through the verses her daughter Isabella had been assigned. We had just delved…
Torah Thoughts – Shoftim – Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9 – “Justice On the Run”
In English, justice can be denied or deferred. We can bring someone to justice or do justice for someone. Justice is blind and is also poetic, but for the most part it is stationary. Justice sits on her throne, scales…
Torah Thoughts – Re’eh – Deuteronomy.11.26-16.17 – “The Biblical School of Hard Knocks”
There is a wonderful scene at the beginning of a recent episode of Hard Knocks featuring Buffalo Bills’ head coach Sean McDermott addressing the team in training camp. He shares a story from his college career at William Mary where…
Torah Thoughts Eikev – Deuteronomy.7.12-11.25 “Our Burden and Our Joy”
One of the most surprising elements about the new HBO MAX documentary about Billy Joel, “And So It Goes,” is the singer’s Jewish story. His father’s family only narrowly escaped capture in the late 1930s. They owned a successful textile…
Torah Thoughts – Vetchanan – Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11 – “Making a Wish for Moses”
In preparation for her Bat Mitzvah, Lillie Greene and I took a closer look at the story of the sin Moses committed in the Book of Numbers of hitting the rock to produce water as opposed to merely talking to…
Torah Thoughts – Devarim – Deuteronomy.1.1-3.22 – “There Are Simply Not Enough Words”
There are 23,008 words in the book of Deuteronomy that we begin this week. But despite its length, Moses’ final speech to the Jewish people only seems to scratch the surface of what he needs to say. The length of…
Torah Thoughts – Matot-Masei – Numbers.30.2-36.13 – “The Rewards of the Journey”
Twenty-five years ago this summer, I sat down with a group of about fifteen people to plan what would become an unforgettable overnight camp. This would be the first overnight camp specifically dedicated to the philosophy of Mordecai Kaplan and…
Torah Thoughts – Pinchas – Numbers.25.10-30.1 – “The Power of Five”
Biblically speaking, women did not have a lot of power. But when you put five of them together, they could move the world. The five daughters of Zelophehad who star in this week’s Torah portion, Pinchas, are movers and shakers…
Torah Thoughts – Balak – Numbers 22:2-25:9 “Our Big Open Tent”
According to the Torah, the ideal Jewish space is not a bright, airy sanctuary, or a study hall thick with study. It is not an archeological dig, like the Western Wall, or the halls of the Israeli Keneset. The ideal…