According to the Torah, the ideal Jewish space is not a bright, airy sanctuary, or a study hall thick with study. It is not an archeological dig, like the Western Wall, or the halls of the Israeli Keneset. The ideal…
Torah Thoughts – Numbers.13.1-15.41 – Sh’lach – “The Good Land”
There was never a question of whether it was good, the Promised Land was always full of possibilities. True it did not have the overflowing waters of the Nile or the Tigris or the Euphrates, nor the wildlife of Africa,…
Torah Thoughts – Beha’alotcha – Numbers.8.1-12.16 – “Time to Sound the Alarm”
When Moses wanted to get the Israelites attention, I mean really get the Israelites attention, he didn’t use the Shofar. No, as described in this week’s Torah portion Beha’alotcha, the instrument of choice was the trumpet, and more specifically the…
Torah Thoughts – Nasso – Numbers.4.21-7.89 – “Who We Lift Up”
The Hebrew word “Naso” has two separate and very different meanings. It can mean either to take a census and to lift up. We normally think of a census as an unbiased collection of data, but it is a choice…
Torah Thoughts – Bamidbar – Numbers 1:1-4:20 – “Counting Jews”
Even in Biblical times, Jews didn’t count the way you would expect. The book of Bamidbar or Numbers begins with a census, not of all the people but only men of military age, each according to their family and tribe. …
Rabbi Alex Lazarus-Klein High Holy Days Sermons 5784 / 2023
Erev Rosh Hashanah Sermon Text Rosh Hashanah Day 1 Morning Sermon Text Kol Nidre Sermon Text Yom Kippur Morning Sermon Text