Every year when we reach this week’s Torah portion, Ha’azinu, I use it as an opportunity to share a few poems. Ha’azinu is one of the oldest Biblical poems, attributed to Moses, it is a summation of all the Israelites…
Torah Thoughts – Nitzavim-Vayelech – Deuteronomy 29:9-31:30 – “Know Before Whom You Stand”
In just a few days we will gather for our High Holy Days. Congregants from near and far will gather in our newly remodeled sanctuary to welcome the new Jewish Year. The new blue chairs and carpets, large overhead window,…
Torah Thoughts – Ki Tavo – Deuteronomy.26.1-29.8 – “Send Down Your Blessings”
There is a moment in this week’s Torah portion Ki Tavo that touched me to the core. It comes in the second aliyah as we hear from an anonymous Israelite after they have completed their yearly offerings. Standing in front…
Torah Thoughts – Ki Teitzei – Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19 – “Every second, every hour, every day”
It is impossible to read this week’s Torah portion, Ki Teitzei, without thinking about the hostages. The portion is dedicated to societal rules for warfare, beginning with the case of a woman who is being held captive. She must be…
Torah Thoughts – Shoftim – Deuteronomy.16.18-21.9 – “Justice, Justice, Shall You Pursue”
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…
Torah Thoughts – Re’eh – Deuteronomy.11.26-16.17 – “On Venus, Have We Got a Rabbi”
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…
Torah Thoughts Chukat (Numbers 19:1 – 22:1) Originally from 2018
“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…
Torah Thoughts – Beha’alotcha – Numbers.8.1-12.16 – “Celebrating 4 Generations of CSS”
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…
Torah Thoughts – Nasso – Numbers.4.21-7.89 – “There is no me in community”
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…
Torah Thoughts – Bamidbar – “What Numbers Can’t Tell Us”
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,…