A Message for Shabbat Vayeira: Let Us Reclaim the Vision of Abraham When Abraham heard of God’s intention to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, he didn’t ask if its citizens were Jewish. He didn’t ask God to save his friends. He didn’t make distinctions based on faith or race, ideology or affiliation. Abraham did not discriminate. He Continue Reading »
A Message for Shabbat Lech Lecha: Work to Bring the Day! As I write these words, a key leader of the Palestinian national movement, Saeb Erekat, is barely holding on to life as he battles Covid-19. That another national leader has been infected by this terrible virus is, sadly, not remarkable. What is remarkable is that Continue Reading »
Our Rabbis, of blessed memory, said that certain verses in the Torah call out to us: “darsheini!” Interpret me! notice me! learn and teach me! This week as we return to b’reishit, to the beginning of the Torah, we encounter so many profound words, stories and values that demand our attention. But this year, as Continue Reading »
Every year after Yom Kippur I hear friends and relatives react to their rabbis’ sermons on the Holy Days. And guess what. Not one of them has ever said the rabbi’s sermon was too short. If all goes well, a rabbi’s words from the pulpit are challenging, moving, important and instructive. These are the standards Continue Reading »
As a new Jewish year approaches, the ways in which we will celebrate it will undoubtedly look a little unfamiliar. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, many of us will be unable to gather in the ways we do every year, to both welcome the arrival of the new year on Rosh Hashanah, and to Continue Reading »
[Editor’s note: We asked Cantor Wallach to answer some questions for us via email, so that our TBE family can get to know her better. This profile is largely based on her responses and reflections.] I grew up in western Massachusetts in the small town of Great Barrington. My family was mostly secular, celebrating Chanukah Continue Reading »
Words to Strengthen and Inspire “I am not a man of words…” “lo ish d’varim anochi…” (Exodus 4:10) That was how Moses first responded to God’s call to lead our people. Yet somehow that man who declared himself unqualified, as slow of speech and inept with words, overcame his fears, led the children of Israel Continue Reading »
Rosh Hashanah came for a visit a few days ago. Don’t worry, you didn’t miss the actual Yom Tov. That will come on time, according to the proper rhythm of the Hebrew calendar, and we will celebrate it with joy, as is fitting. So how did Cantor Wallach, Amy Rubin, and I experience Rosh Hashanah Continue Reading »
This week’s Torah portion contains more laws than any other parashah in the Torah – 72, to be exact. The purpose was not to provide a code that the average Israelite would carry around to consult at any given moment; rather, it was to cultivate a certain sensibility, awareness, and attitude. Nowhere is this more evident than in the prescription Continue Reading »
Rabbi Kalonymous Kalmish Shapira, the Rebbe of the Warsaw Ghetto left us a wonderful metaphor for the work of repentance and renewal that we began today with Rosh Chodesh Elul. When sculptors begin their craft, he said, what stands before them is a “brute block of stone.” Within that stone lies the possibility of something beautiful that is as Continue Reading »
