Rabbi’s Torah Thoughts

Twenty-five years ago this summer, I sat down with a group of about fifteen people to plan what would become an unforgettable overnight camp. This would be the first overnight camp specifically dedicated to the philosophy of Mordecai Kaplan and…

Biblically speaking, women did not have a lot of power.  But when you put five of them together, they could move the world.  The five daughters of Zelophehad who star in this week’s Torah portion, Pinchas, are movers and shakers…

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…

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,…

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…