Early this past Sunday morning Buffalo time, the two-time defending champion US Women’s National Team took on Sweden’s national team in the first-round knockout at this year’s World Cup in Australia. The match was tied 0-0 after over 120 minutes,…
Torah Thoughts – Eikev – Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25 – “Even if…”
This week’s Torah portion begins with a proposition: “if you obey these rules and observe them carefully, God will…” (and I paraphrase) be good to you. This is the essence of the covenant between the Jewish people and God: in…
Torah Thoughts – Vaetchanan – Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11 – “Destruction and Renewal”
This was a week where the world of yesterday and the world of today seemed to collide. At the same time as hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets in Jerusalem to protest changes made by the Knesset…
Torah Thoughts – Devarim – Deuteronomy.1.1-3.22 – “Speaking in Many Places at Once”
Last Sunday, I led a service at the Holloway Memorial Chapel in Canada, a few miles down the road from Crystal Beach. This is something I have done once a summer for the past decade, replacing Rabbi Marty Goldberg, who…
Torah Thoughts – Matot Masei – Numbers 30:2-36:13 – “Finding Home at Shir Shalom”
Elvis Presley famously sang, “Home is where the heart is.” The poet Robert Frost countered, home is “the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” For the Reubenites and Gaddites in this week’s…
Torah Thoughts – Pinchas – Numbers.25.10-30.1 – “Radical Egalitarian in Judaism”
In 11th Grade, I spent the Fall semester studying at Tichon Ramah Yerushalayim in Jerusalem, Israel. There we were expected to not only attend classes, but also attend regular daily liturgical services or minyan we organized ourselves. Largely coming from…
Torah Thoughts – Korach Numbers.16.1-18.32 – “The Talmud’s Guide to Healthy Conflict”
A recent text from our Thursday night Talmud study, absolutely blew my mind. It involves a little-known rabbi named Evyatar whose decision about the necessity of requiring agents to validate bills of divorce from outside of Israel was in conflict…
Torah Thoughts – Sh’lach Numbers.13.1-15.41 – “Celebrating the Sacred in our CSS Community.”
In Hebrew, the root letters Kuf-Dalet-Shin can be used to describe Kiddish wine blessing on Friday night, the Mourner’s Kaddish memorial prayer, and Kiddushin, the Jewish wedding ceremony. What these three experiences have in common is that they are all…
Torah Thoughts – Beha’alotcha – Numbers.8.1-12.16 – “Capturing Nature in Art”
Like many of you, I am very excited about this month’s reopening of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum (formerly the Albright Knox). Inside we will finally be able to witness hundreds of pieces of artwork that had previously been in…
Torah Thoughts – Naso – Numbers.4.21-7.89 – “Jewish Pride”
In honor of the beginning of the Book of Numbers and its theme of surveying the State of the Jewish People, I presented this article at our Friday night services two weeks ago. This week’s Torah portion, Naso, picks up…