From Broadway to the Bimah
Torah Thoughts – Re’eh – Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17 – “Future Orientation”
Moses does not speak to the past. He speaks to the future. Here in Deuteronomy, as he nears his death, he projects out what the community will look like when it crosses the Jordan into the Promised Land. At the…
Torah Thoughts – Eikev – Deuteronomy – 7.12-11.25 – “Counting Down to High Holy Days”
When addressing a group of rabbis several years back, a colleague of mine quipped, “this week we begin the Book of Leviticus, the moment rabbis begin worrying about High Holy Days.” It was March. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur were…
Torah Thoughts – Vaetchanan – Deuteronomy.3.23-7.11 – “Laying the Foundation”
Twenty-five years ago, or so, I sat down in a room with a dozen or so people and came up with a framework for an overnight summer camp that didn’t exist yet, what would be the first camp in the…
Torah Thoughts – Devarim – Deuteronomy.1.1-3.22 – “An Overabundance of Words”
The nice thing about writing for newspapers is how concise it is. Every word – no matter how short or how long – matters. The Torah is similarly concise. The Ten Commandments, or more accurately the Ten Words, has for…
Torah Thoughts – Matot-Masei – Numbers.30.2-36.13 – “God Helps Us”
Tell me if you’ve heard this one before: a righteous person goes on top of their roof to escape the waters of a flood, all the time praying to God for assistance. When a small boat comes by, he brushes…
Torah Thoughts – Pinchas – Numbers.25.10-30.1 – “My Name is Asser Levy”
Asser Levy was one of the original 23 Jews who arrived in America in 1654. These brave pioneers fleeing the Inquisition found refuge in the shores of New Amsterdam. Asser Levy was a fierce freedom fighter, who had to fight…
Torah Thoughts – Chukat-Balak – Numbers 19:1-22:1 – “Me and Michael Jackson”
As a teenager, Michael Jackson was top on my list of favorite artists. His album Thriller came out when I was in grade school and I remember listening to the songs play over and over at the roller-skating rink. So,…
Torah Thoughts – Korach – Numbers.16.1-18.32 – “How You Spell G-D”
Mordecai Kaplan would begin his classes at the Jewish Theological Seminary by writing God in English in the board without the dash in the middle. Inevitably one of the rabbinical students would stand up to reprimand their teacher. In response,…
Torah Thoughts – Sh’lach – Numbers.13.1-15.41 – “Championship Aspirations”
I remember when I first caught the World Cup bug. It was back in 1994, and I had just completed my Junior year at Hebrew University. Walking around Jerusalem every screen in every home and every bar was turned to…