Rabbi’s Torah Thoughts

In the final episode of Seinfeld, the central characters of the sitcom are accused of being bystanders.  Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer watch as a heavy-set man is carjacked, poking fun at him instead of rushing to his aide.  In…

There are forty-four candles in a box of Hanukkah candles, enough for every night of the holiday.  Every is candle vital to performing the mitzvah of our festival of lights.  As instructed by Rabbi Hillel, we start with just one,…

At the shiva service for Dr. Morris Unher of blessed memory, the line of people to greet the family extended all the way to the door.  All of them had one thing in common: he had assisted in their birthing…

Last week, I had an opportunity to watch the musical “Come From Away” at Shea’s 710 Theatre.  The 2017 Broadway production tells the true story of the 38 flights stranded for several days in Gander, Newfoundland after 9/11.  The seven…

For Ronnie Dubrowin a butterfly moment is one where we push against our outer limits and achieve something far beyond what we could originally imagine.  During her talk last Shabbat at the Sisterhood Paid-Up Luncheon, she described the first marathon…

The Erie Canal was not built in a day or two or three.  The idea for it was generated in the 1780s.  Construction officially started in 1817 and went until 1825, but the canal continued to be developed until 1918. …

If you leave off the animals, the flood, the rainbow and any other specific details of the story of Noah, what you are left with is an immigration tale.  Displaced by violence and an ecological disaster, our Biblical protagonist sets…

As frustrating it is to start back at the beginning, it can be liberating as well.  Reading the first lines of Genesis again is an opportunity to find new interpretations and new meanings.  While the Torah is the same, we…

As always, on Ha’azinu, Moses’ last poem to the People of Israel, I share a poem.  This one is taken from a Jewish Italian poet named Umberto Saba (1883-1857).  He converted to Judaism as a young man, and then, refused…

Perhaps the strangest commencement speeches of all time began with a few opening remarks given in a high-pitched awkward stutter, followed by the words: “You are all here to listen to a frog.” By frog, he was referring to perhaps…