The Murder of George Floyd
Dear Congregants and Friends, Six days ago our nation and the world witnessed the killing, caught on camera, of George Floyd, a 46 year old Black American man in the…
The Voice
Photo by Jason Rosewell on Unsplash The Book of Leviticus opens with G-d calling to Moses, thus giving this third book of the Torah its name in Hebrew, “Vayikra”. Have…
When Civilization Begins
Photo by Adrien xplr on Unsplash According to the Talmud, young children are supposed to start their Torah study with this week’s Torah portion, which is the beginning of the…
Is the Corona-virus an Act of God?
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash Last week a congregant wrote me to ask me a question. “Rabbi,” they write, “Our school district has cancelled classes and states the missed days will never…
Pursuing Fame and Glory
I recently watched a movie made in 2004 called “Troy”. It stars Brad Pitt in the role of Achilles. It tells the story of Achilles, the greatest warrior of all…
Sacred Spaces – A Synagogue Initiative for the #Me Too Era
In this week’s Parasha, Bo, we find the commandment to wear tefillin. Tefillin are small square black boxes that contain certain biblical verses. These boxes are attached to straps. We…
Let Our Daughters Dream Too
Jessica Meir tweets her Hanukah greetings from the International Space Station December 2020 This week in our parasha we read about that dreamer par excellence, Joseph. The second youngest child…
Chanukah Sermon
These are dark times indeed. All over the world, we Jewish people continue to experience, hate, intolerance, disrespect in all sorts of ways. Acts of antisemitism remain a plague in…
To Be Blessed With Everything : A Thanksgiving Sermon
This week’s parasha opens with the death of Sarah and Abraham’s purchase of the cave of Machpelah in which she will be buried. After burying and mourning his wife, scriptures tells us G-d blessed…
Anniversary of the Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania
To See and To Do The Torah is a remarkably terse document that uses surprisingly few words. For example, if you want to know what Abraham looked like, the Bible…