This Passover is different than all others because Israel is in the midst of a political crisis that has exposed deep divisions among its citizens and among Jews throughout the world. As Reform Jews we stand in solidarity with our sisters and brothers who are fighting to defend Israel’s liberal democratic character against the current Continue Reading »
Next week, Jews around the world will gather together to celebrate the Festival of Passover. We will eat matzah and charoset, drink four cups of wine, and tell the story of our ancestors, who fled slavery and oppression in search of freedom and a new home. But it’s not just the Israelites’ story. We are reminded that, Continue Reading »
Terumah 5783 This week we read the nineteenth parashah in the cycle of Torah reading – parashat Terumah starting with Exodus chapter 25, verse 2. The word Terumah is used seventy-six times in the Tanakh which includes the five books of Moses – the Chumash, plus “Prophets” Nevi’im and “Writings” Ketuvim where Terumah is taken Continue Reading »
Reproductive Rights Shabbat For the past two years, I have spoken on Shabbat Mishpatim, now called #reproShabbat in many Jewish communities, organized by the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW). Last year, the US Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision changed the landscape for women and pregnant people across the United States. Suddenly, our rights were drastically Continue Reading »
Our Torah portion this week is Parashat Yitro from the Book of Exodus (Sefer Shmot). Two major events occur in this portion. The first is when the Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro or Yitro, brings Moses’ wife, Zipporah, and his two sons, Gershom and Eliezer, to Moses in the wilderness. Seeing the situation Moses is in, Yitro Continue Reading »
Parashat Va-eira; Exodus 6:2-9:35 This week’s Torah portion Va-eira begins in the book of Exodus chapter 6, verse 2. In Hebrew this book is called Sh’mot – the Book of Names. The fifteenth century Italian commentator Ovadia ben Jacob Sforno teaches that “a name describes the individual features of a person. And these individual features are Continue Reading »
One of the great misconceptions about religion is that people pray and perform rituals so that God will give us what we want — in essence, to manipulate God. This reminds me of the story about a man who prayed to win the lottery. When his hopes were dashed, he turned to God in bitter Continue Reading »
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 »
This brief commentary is dedicated to the memory of Shuey Horowitz and Cindy Andrews, both of whom were what the Talmud would call “women of consequence.”(1) In this week’s parashah, the Torah offers a lesson that would be significant had it been written today. That it was written some 2,800 years ago is truly Continue Reading »
The story of the Israelites being freed from Egyptian bondage by God, with Moses as their leader is a story of redemption. The Israelites were saved by God’s power, and we became God’s people in the process, ultimately receiving the Torah at mount Sinai and joining in the covenant with God that binds us together Continue Reading »
