Community Blog

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Shabbat Shalom! This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Shemini, in which the Mishkan is finally ready to receive its first official sacrifices, but two of Aaron’s sons bring an improper sacrifice and are smote. Then in the controlled chaos that follows, as Moses tries to resume the sacrificial...Read more...

          Shabbat Shalom! This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Vayekhel, more of the counting of items the Israelites bring to the building of the Mishkan. As we know from the Alicia Jo Rabins song I like to sing this time of year, wise-hearted people of all the tribes of Israel brought what they had to build and beautify the dwelling place of HaShem. Early in the...Read more...

            Shabbat Shalom! This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Yitro, in which Moses’s father-in-law tells him he needs to set up a governmental structure to share the work load with, because trying to attend to all of the community’s needs alone will only cause harm to himself and to the community. Later in the Parasha, Moses climbs up Mount Sinai to...Read more...

          Shabbat Shalom! This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Va’Era, the telling of the first 7 of the plagues. Toward the beginning of the Parasha,  7:19 says: G‑d spoke to Moses: “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod, and stretch out your hand upon the waters of Egypt’”. A somewhat esoteric Midrash known as the Mishnat Rabbi Eliezer explains this verse: “The first three...Read more...

Shabbat Shalom! This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Vayigash, in which Joseph’s success in Egypt really comes to a peak. He settles his brothers in the land of Goshen, continues to prosper in Pharaoh’s palace, continues to feed those suffering in the famine, and continues to feed Pharaoh’s...Read more...

          Shabbat Shalom! This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Vayishlach, in which Jacob splits up his camp in preparation of his reunion with his brother Esau, whom he believes might kill him. After sending his wives and children in one direction, Jacob himself goes for a little walk in a different direction and ends up wrestling with … someone. There are a lot of...Read more...

Shabbat Shalom! This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Chayei Sarah, in which Sarah dies, Abraham purchases his first piece of land in Ha’Aretz, and Isaac gets married off to a woman he’s never met. I know I say this a lot, but there’s a lot happening in this parasha. There’s also a lot happening in the...Read more...

Shabbat Shalom. This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Lech Lecha, the beginning of our people’s covenant with God, when Abraham (still Abram) first heeds God’s call. It also tells us of Sarai’s difficulty in getting pregnant, and her “giving” her maidservant Hagar to Abram as a surrogate. However, once...Read more...

Shabbat Shalom. I have never before spoken about Israel from the bima, but I have felt devastated this week, and I cannot keep silent. I was heartbroken and worried for my people on Saturday and Sunday, alongside the rest of the Jewish world, after hearing about the largest single massacre of...Read more...

Shalom and tzaharayim tov. Our afternoon Torah reading tells us, “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” All of Jewish life can be summed up here. We are constantly on the search for holiness, to understand what it means to honor our Divine Spark, to strive to walk in God’s way. The Holiness Code, the section of Leviticus we read from this afternoon, gives us some guidance, but between God’s...Read more...

          Anyada buena, dulse i alegre. Tonight we begin the final ascent of our high holy day season. After a month of introspection throughout Elul, a beautiful Rosh HaShana Seder and celebratory Rosh HaShana Day, and these ten Days of Awe, we arc toward our close with Yom Kippur. Tomorrow, many of us will be at the synagogue all day, alternating between praying, learning, kibbitzing, and...Read more...

Groovy Teshuvy, y’all. Here we are at the start of a new year, a time of possibility. Here we are at the Jewish high holy days, a time of introspection. This is the season of teshuvah (or teshuvy), a chance to repent and to return to our best selves. While we are certainly a people...Read more...

Shabbat Shalom!  This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Ki Teitzei, which contains the most laws of any single parasha in the Torah. Among these lists of commandments are rules regarding fair labor practices. 

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Shabbat Shalom!  This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Korach, in which a Levite named Korach leads an Uprising against Moses and Aaron and is ultimately smote by God, with the earth opening up and swallowing whole Korach and all his...Read more...