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Shabbat Shalom! Let us count the omer with the blessing on page 570. Tonight is night 41, which is five weeks and six days of the Omer. Hayom echad ve’arba’im yom sheheim chamisha shavuot veshisha yamim laomer. The kabbalistic realm for this night night is yesod shebeyesod, which...Read more...

Shabbat Shalom! It is time to count the Omer. The Blessing can be found on page 570, and this Shabbat we are counting Day 7. 

In Kabbalistic terms, this night of the Omer is assigned to the mystical realms of Yesod SheBeChesed, which Rabbi Jill...Read more...

Shabbat Shalom! This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Pekudei, in which we conclude the Book of Exodus with the final descriptions of the finished Mishkan and priestly vestments. At Torah Study on Monday evening, we spent some time talking about the different approaches to religious art amongst different...Read more...

Shabbat Shalom! This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Terumah, in which the first description of the Mishkan is found. God instructs Moses to instruct the Israelites to bring gifts of the heart to begin the construction, and the basic blueprints are shared with Moses. The Mishkan is often translated...Read more...

Shabbat Shalom! This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Bo, in which the last three plagues are recounted. Before we get to the 8th plague in the beginning of the parasha, Pharaoh offers to let a delegation of the Israelites go out into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to HaShem. Moses and Aaron...Read more...

Earlier in the week, I was ruminating on the Torah portion for this Shabbat, Parashat Shemot, and thinking about a d’var Torah on new beginnings. This parasha marks the beginning of the Book of Exodus, a new chapter for the Israellite people, a renewal of the ancient covenant, and begins with a new...Read more...

Shabbat Shalom! This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Miketz, in which Joseph is brought out of jail with a fresh cut and grooming, a total glow up to be presented before the court of Pharaoh. There, he speaks truth to power, foretelling the years of famine that will come after the...Read more...

Shabbat Shalom! This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Vayetzei - “and he went out.” The “he” here refers to Jacob, who is leaving his parents’ home to return to the land of his grandparents and extended family to find a wife, and to wait out his brother’s murderous rage after Jacob has...Read more...

Shabbat Shalom! This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Vayera, which includes the tale of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Isaac’s birth and near-sacrifice, and an odd sidequest between Abraham and Abimelech about the ownership of land. 

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          Shabbat Shalom v’Yom Tov. This morning, we read the words of Deuteronomy 30, “I have put before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life – if you and your offspring would live.” Rabbi Eliezer Davidovitz, an early 20th century Slovakian rabbi, asked, “Is there a person who would choose death?” In our new prayer books, Rabbi Josh Zweiback, a...Read more...

Shabbat Shalom! This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Ha’azinu, Moses’s final song as he signs off his last shift as leader of the Israelites. At the end of the parasha, he is called up to Mount Nebo by God and he dies quietly and alone, so that none may find his grave and turn it into an idol...Read more...

Shabbat Shalom! This week we read the double portion of Parashat Nitzavim-Vayelech, and it is our final Shabbat before the new year. Nitzavim is one of my favorite Parshiyot (here’s a challenge for every week Shabbat attendees - count how many times I say that in a Torah cycle), as...Read more...

Shabbat Shalom! This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Shoftim, in which we learn about some of the establishments of legal proceedings in Judaism. Shoftim means “judges” and much of the parasha is dedicated to explaining the strata and hierarchy of leadership in the Jewish community, and how we...Read more...

Shabbat Shalom! This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Ekev, which continues Moses’s teachings to the people of Israel as they prepare for the next chapter on their journey. 

On Sunday, our Religious...Read more...

As a part of my Masters in Jewish Studies, I took an online class called Ethical Dilemmas, which was about exploring modern social norms through traditional Jewish ethical lenses. There were some annoying debates in the class forums about acceptance of LGBTQIA Jews, egalitarian Judaism, and...Read more...