Blog

Lessons from Korach

Posted on July 1, 2022

In last week’s Sedrah, Shelach Lecha, the people heeded the report of ten of the scouts sent out by Moses and refused to follow Moses’s directions to begin the conquest of the Promised Land. Amid various murmurings, some even sought a chieftain to take them back to Egypt. In today’s parshah, Korach, a Great Mutiny Continue Reading »

Statement In Response to the Supreme Court’s Ruling on Roe v. Wade

Posted on June 28, 2022

To our TBE family, We felt it was important to reach out to you in the wake of last week’s Supreme Court decision which ended federal abortion rights after having them in place for the past 50 years. The US Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade leaves many of us feeling grief, fear, Continue Reading »

Do the Right Thing

Posted on June 24, 2022

  This week’s parsha, from the Book of Numbers, Chapter 13 verse 1 to Chapter 15 verse 41, is Shelach Lecha, meaning “send for yourself.” The portion includes the well-known story of the “spies” or “scouts” who are sent to reconnoiter in the land of Canaan. In the first line of the portion, God authorizes Continue Reading »

We Choose Life! — Remarks from the March for Our Lives Rally, June 11, 2022

Posted on June 12, 2022

Yesterday, Rabbi Gluck spoke at the March for Our Lives Rally Against Mass Shootings and America’s Gun Violence Epidemic in Princeton. Here are his remarks and a moving poem by Reverend Lukata Mjumbe of the Witherspoon Presbyterian Church, Princeton. See below for action steps you can take. We Choose Life! Rally Against Mass Shootings & America’s Continue Reading »

Celebrating Pride Shabbat

Posted on June 10, 2022

This month we celebrate Pride. But what does celebrating pride mean? For the LGBTQ+ community, Pride means being able to be yourself and be safe while being who God made you. This week’s Torah portion contains the following statement: “When a man or a woman commits any wrong toward a fellow human being, thus breaking Continue Reading »

A Prayer for the Dead and the Living after Buffalo and Uvalde

Posted on June 3, 2022

The Jewish memorial prayer is called Eil Malei Rachamim, God Full of Compassion. I offer this version for the dead and for the living: Eil ma-lei ra-cha-mim, sho-chein ba-m’ro-mim, ham’tzei m’nu-cha n’cho-na ta-chat kan-fei ha-sh’chi-nah… God full of compassion, transcendent Presence, grant perfect rest under the wings of Your presence to Your precious children who Continue Reading »

When Shabbat Ends, There Is Work to Be Done

Posted on May 27, 2022

This evening, we should be gathering in pure celebration — of Shabbat, of God’s creation, and of the loving fellowship of our community. Instead, our celebration is mingled with sorrow, with lamentation, as we grieve the horrific destruction of life — in Buffalo, in Ukraine, and, this past Tuesday, in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 children Continue Reading »

The Torah’s Vision for Life

Posted on May 20, 2022

The Dubner Maggid told a parable about a champion marksman who was passing through a tiny village when he saw a hundred circles drawn on the side of a barn, and in the center of each circle was a bullet hole. The man was so amazed, he stopped his horse and yelled out: “Who is this Continue Reading »

Perfectly Imperfect

Posted on May 13, 2022

This week’s Torah portion, Emor, contains the disturbing instruction that physically disabled priests are to be barred from bringing offerings to the Sanctuary: No one at all who has a defect shall be qualified: no man who is blind, or lame, or has a limb too short or too long; no man who has a Continue Reading »

To Be Holy Is to Be Ethical

Posted on May 6, 2022

The Torah’s boldest claim is not about God but about human beings. In the very first chapter of Genesis, Scripture declares that we are God-like, created in the Divine image, b’tzelem Elohim. As the Torah’s narrative unfolds, the meaning and implications of this distinction become clear. We have a moral capacity, the ability to discern Continue Reading »