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 – 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…
Torah Thoughts – Beha’alotcha – Numbers 8:1-12:16 – “Between the Suns”
Bein Hashmashot, or between the suns, is Hebrew for twilight, the thin layer of light between night and day. On a recent “For Heaven’s Sake” podcast, the host Doniel Hartman declared the entire State of Israel to be caught in…
Torah Thoughts – Nasso – Numbers 4:21-7:89 – “Celebrating One Hundred Years of Scouting in WNY”
As a child I always hated packing up my sleeping bag. It was big and fluffy and somehow had to be shoved into a bag so small it could barely carry crackers. I would roll it and reroll it and…
Torah Thoughts – Shavuot – Exodus.19.1-20.23 – “I’m Not Leaving, I’m Expanding”
In a recent post on “My Jewish Learning,” by Rabbi Sara Laufer about the Book of Numbers (Thanks Bob Kanner!) she describes a comic strip by Mari Andrew featuring “two identical drawings of a woman, holding a suitcase, staring at…