Rabbi’s Torah Thoughts

As the identities of the six bodies discovered in Rafa this past weekend were revealed, the Jewish world shook with anger.  After nearly a year in captivity, what did Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Alex Lobanov, Carmel Gat, Almog…

In one of the stories included in the 1970s science fiction anthology “Wandering Stars”, creatures called Bulbas that look like, “brown pillows, all wrinkled and twisted, with some big gray spots on this side and on that side, and out of…

“Creating a World without Blemish” At the beginning of this week’s Torah portion, Chukat, we learn about a red heifer, that not only had to be completely red, but also without blemish, “she ein bah mum” (Numbers 19:2).  This was…

Last Saturday afternoon, Audrey Shine celebrated her Bat Mitzvah at CSS.  What made this particularly important not just to the Shine family, but to our entire CSS community, is that Audrey is the third generation of her family to become…

When we rise for the Barchu prayer on Friday Night, I often ask people to look around the room.  Then I say, “Each and every one of you is important to our service tonight.  Without you here, we would not…

This much we know; on October 7, at 6:30 in the morning that day Jerusalem time the attack began. Over 5,000 rockets were fired into Israel from Gaza in a span of 20 minutes. 2,900 Hamas militants stormed the border,…

The summer after eleventh grade, I worked at Camp Ramah in the Poconos. The camp was affiliated with the Conservative movement, but I considered myself Orthodox at the time. This often posed challenges for me over the course of the…

When the siren sounds in Israel at 11 am on Yom Hazikaron, everything stops.  Nary a household is without loss.  Nary a household is without pain.  The memories of loved ones struck down in faraway wars and recent battles flash…

As a student of Columbia University in the early 90s, I lived in the aftermath of the civil unrest of the late 60s.  Tall gates stood guard each time you entered or exited the long city campus.  While they remained…

When we think of Passover, we focus on the Seder meal and all its intricacies and delights.  Our ancestors, on the other hand, focused on one thing and one thing only – the Paschal lamb.  This key annual tradition represented…