Dvar Torah Archive

Everyone and Their Own Story. “Everyone and their own story.” With this simple line, the popular Israeli singer Shlomo Artzi reminds us that every person carries an entire world within them: personal history, pain, dreams, and aspirations. Each of us is unique, yet our shared human vulnerability can become a bridge that connects us. Artzi’s…

The Road to Israel – Trust in God or Trust in Man? The foundation of modern Zionism – and its first critique – can be found in the middle of this week’s parashah. One small story challenges us to think about the friction between taking initiative and being impetuous. After our ancestors’ negative reaction to…

When we consider Bamidbar’s lessons in leadership, we usually look straight to Moses. Moses provides a master course in how to deal with rebellion, how to manage God’s rage, and even how to get water from a rock. But Moses also teaches us about other forms of leadership, too, about those in the background, where…

We live in a world where people barely look up. We talk while texting, scroll while listening, and check out of conversations even while sitting face-to-face. It’s become strangely difficult just to look someone in the eye — to not look past them. To give them our full, undivided presence. But in this week’s parashah, buried…

On Shavuot, we have this great story about grief, support, faith, and perseverance, which we revisit every year with the reading of Megilat Ruth. As the story goes, Ruth, along with Orpah, marries into a family only to face loss with the deaths of their husbands. Ruth and Orpah, Moabites, outsiders, must decide what to…

In the 6th century BCE, Greek theater was created as part of the worship of the Greek god, Dionysus. The tragedies written for the Dionysian festivals enabled audiences to have a cathartic experience, which drained them and perhaps led to emotional healing. The horror of Oedipus’ fate, the violence and deaths in Medea, and Antigone’s…

In this week’s parashah, Bechukotai, we encounter the Tochachah – a series of blessings for following God’s laws and warnings for straying from them. At first glance, it can feel very transactional: do “A” and get “B.” But Rashi’s commentary reveals a model for guiding behavior through transparency, fairness, and trust – one relevant to…

The week’s parashah, Emor, begins by describing the three main chagim: Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot, the holidays when the Jewish community gathers together to remember our history and celebrate the harvest. The parashah paints a picture of a carefully ordered community. It details laws about priestly purity, physical perfection, sacrifices without blemish, and the calendar….

Two years ago, I wrote a dvar Torah that bridged biology and scripture. Today, I’m putting on my lab coat again to look at a biological mystery hidden within the blueprints of the Mishkan (Sanctuary): the identity of the tachash. This unknown species has been mentioned no fewer than six times across the last several…

Congressman Ritchie Torres had actual tears running down his face. We were in his office in Washington, D.C. Ten of our current junior students had just finished asking the Congressman to sign on to two bills that will support people experiencing homelessness: one to fund youth employment and the other to provide emergency housing relief….

It is easy to “miss the forest for the trees” at times. The arc of our traditional Torah readings, projected onto the calendar created by our modern national holidays, is one of those places. Last week, we read about two of Aharon’s sons dying while serving in their priestly roles. Next week’s double-portion Torah reading…

This week, I had the privilege of joining our sixth graders for a day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in connection with their social studies learning. Before our visit, we shared a pizza lunch with the sixth graders at Ramaz, who opened their doors to us and generously welcomed us with open arms. In…

A teacher’s dreaded question: “Why do I have to learn this?” The question implies that our topic is irrelevant, outdated, or just plain boring. As we open this week’s Parshat Vayikra and we begin a book about sacrifices and purity that can seem strange to modern readers, we may ask ourselves that same question.  We…

Two years ago, I wrote a dvar Torah that bridged biology and scripture. Today, I’m putting on my lab coat again to look at a biological mystery hidden within the blueprints of the Mishkan (Sanctuary): the identity of the tachash. This unknown species has been mentioned no fewer than six times across the last several…

Over the years, my friends who knew I had Christian cousins would wonder how I would handle attending events in churches. There were not that many events, but the idea was, according to my Orthodox friends, that going into a church seemed to be sanctioning idolatry. Obviously, I was not Orthodox and did not ascribe…

Throughout my teaching career, there were times when I taught classical Greek Literature: Socrates’ Apologia, Sophocles’ Oedipus and Antigone, Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, Euripides’ Medea, and Homer’s The Odyssey. My students found it fascinating that “men and women hadn’t changed.” When Teiresias, the blind prophet, is accused of bribery, students marveled that bribery was heard of so…

This week’s parashah, Mishpatim, addresses God’s civil and ethical laws, often referred to as the “Covenant Code.” Recounted to the Israelites by Moses, this code outlines consequences for crimes, manners in which civil disputes must be dealt with, and the foundations, both in belief and action, of the Jewish people.  Perhaps, more than anything, it…

I remember rabbinical school as among the busiest times of my life, taking classes, plus homework and papers, multiple part-time jobs on nights and weekends, along with all of the errands at home and trying to maintain a social life. I remember being so busy that I even resonated with Moshe Rabbeinu, who spends all…

Wednesday morning, at the Senior Sendoff Ceremony for the Class of 2026 as they embarked on their Lev v’Nefesh experience, twelfth-grader Netta Pack delivered her Senior Drasha, which we have edited for clarity and are proud to share with you below. ​ This week’s parashah is Parshat Beshalach. Beshalach means “to be sent out.” And…

Parashat Bo, Exodus chapters 10 through 13, places us at the dramatic climax of the Exodus narrative, the plagues of locusts, darkness, and the death of the firstborn.  Yet alongside the events themselves, the parashah does something just as profound. It begins to shape a people’s identity through consciousness, memory, and practice. In this sense,…

Divine Justice and Human Arrogance ​ This week’s parashah, וארא, Vaera, begs the question: Why would God bring 10 plagues on Egypt? A closer examination of the plagues and their contexts helps illuminate the answer. Let’s begin with the first plague, מכת דם (blood). The Nile River, the source of fresh water and the basis…

I do not wish to make you nervous, but Pesach is twelve weeks away! You’re going to tell me that we haven’t yet celebrated Tu b’Shevat or Purim, and here I am exclaiming that we are twelve weeks from Passover! So why are we reading Shemot so “early” in the year?  The Exodus from Egypt…

A song of resilience, “Maoz Tzur,” traditionally sung each night of Chanukah, is a chronicle of survival, celebrating our unwavering faith in God despite the cyclical persecution we have faced throughout history. And yet, we open this song with a declaration of praise: “Maoz tzur yeshuati, lecha na’eh l’shabe’ach“—”Rock of my Salvation, to You it…

In this week’s parashah, we find Joseph on the outskirts of his brothers. An action of his own doing, and in part, Jacob’s doing. To say that Joseph was the favorite child would be an understatement, and the brothers knew it, whether or not a technicolor coat was gifted. Then comes Joseph and his dreams,…

What do our dreams have to teach us? According to classic Jungian philosophy, every person we encounter in a dream represents an aspect of ourselves. Have a dream about participating in a game show? You are actually represented by each member of the game. They are all parts of you: the winner, the loser, the…

Measure For Measure: Deceit As Its Own Reward   Isaac and Rebekah had twin sons, Esau and Jacob. According to our Rabbis, Esau, the elder, was a gifted hunter and outdoorsman, while Jacob was a reserved scholar. Isaac preferred that Esau carry on the family’s legacy, perhaps because of Esau’s qualities as a rugged individualist….

Don’t worry, parents; you are not alone! Parenting challenges go back to biblical times! Parashat Toldot is filled with some great drama: parent favoritism, sibling rivalry and trickery, deception, and running away from home. I wish I could say that Toldot gives us a roadmap to follow to avoid some of these parenting missteps in…

In the wake of Sarah’s death, Avraham purchases the first piece of land ever owned by the Jewish people in Eretz Yisrael. When Avraham describes himself to the Hittites in order to buy it, he says, “גֵּר־וְתוֹשָׁב אָנֹכִי עִמָּכֶם”, “I am a stranger and a resident among you.” Rashi explains that Avraham was saying: If…

Someone once asked me if reading the Torah each year was boring. After all, you know the story already. I explained that I always found something new to think about because, as I matured, I read more commentary, thought more about the humanity of the Biblical world, and pondered more about life. This parashah, with…

The language of emunah, belief, is surprisingly hard to find in Torah. Even Abraham is credited with emunah only once, several chapters after we first meet him.   והאמן בה׳   And Abram believed in God.  (Bereshit 15:6) For the father of monotheism, a brand new system of belief, isn’t this a bit late to see…

During these past two weeks, it has felt as though the world itself has begun to breathe again. We have watched with tears in our eyes as hostages reunite with their families, communities gather to celebrate the end of the war, and the long-lost sounds of laughter and song fill the air once more. And…

A big sign on the wall of my Middle School makerspace classroom reads “ITERATION.” It’s a key component of the work we do in Engineering and Design: make something, test it out, and make changes to improve it. Then, keep doing that over and over until it’s as good as it can be. In Bereshit,…

Prophecy Fulfilled (אי”ה) Sixty-eight days ago, as Shabbat ended and Tishah B’Av began this year, I jumped into my car and drove down to Kiryat Gat where the members of the Nir Oz community were going to have their weekly rally, followed by a conversation between the social worker who was assigned to their community…

What is a sukkah? For the ancient Israelites, and for us today, the holiday of סוכות (sukkot – huts) holds multiple valences simultaneously. Thousands of years ago, our ancestors arrived in the land of milk and honey and worked to create a society based on their shared memory, Torah injunctions, and their identities as newly…

This evening, we will begin Shabbat Shuvah, the Sabbath of Repentance, which is the name of the Shabbat that falls between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. Only a few days thereafter, we will beat our chest as we recite Ashmanu, an alphabetic litany of sins that we have transgressed communally. Frankly, the process can be…

We often talk about “taking a stand.” That phrase might be followed by a strong opinion for or against some current policy promulgated by a legislator or candidate for office. We don’t often think of it as a Biblical term, but in this week’s parashah, it’s essentially the second word in Deuteronomy 29:9: אַתֶּ֨ם נִצָּבִ֤ים….

Be God-like: A Word of Torah on Parshat Ki Tavo This week’s פרשה (parashah – weekly Torah portion) begins with a forward-looking sentence: “When you arrive in the land…” What follows is a series of מצוות (mitzvot – commandments) meant to provide the building blocks of identity, aspirations for a more just society, and injunctions…

One morning, Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa and his wife decided to go for a walk. They opened the front door and found some chickens sitting on their front drive. They couldn’t see the owner, and so they decided to temporarily look after the chickens and their eggs. But the eggs and the chickens kept multiplying,…

“The Land Is Exceedingly Good” – “טוֹבָה הָאָרֶץ מְאוֹד מְאוֹד” הָיִינוּ כְּחוֹלְמִים  – Reflections – Between Fear and Faith   “עוֹד שָׁנָה חָלְפָה, עוֹד שָׁנָה טְרוּפָה… הַבַּיְתָה, הַבַּיְתָה, בָּאָה הָעֵת לַחֲזֹר מִן הֶהָרִים, מִשָּׂדוֹת זָרִים” “Another year has passed, another turbulent year… home, home, the time has come to return from the mountains, from foreign fields.”…

In this week’s parashah, we are given more insight into the relationship of three fascinating siblings—Miriam, Aharon, and Moshe. I find this family to be a refreshing break from the sibling drama of the book of Bereshit—no more rivalries, no fighting over birthrights or spouses, and no selling into slavery. To do a quick recap…

This week continues a string of parashiot (weekly portions) that mold the mixed multitudes who left Egypt into a unified nation, capable and confident. The first steps towards becoming a functioning, organized people included knowing where to camp, how to set up the camp using the cardinal directions, and understanding that at the center of…

A few years ago, I went to shul on Shavuot and before the start of Torah reading the Rabbi  asked the congregation, “What are you doing here?” Everyone looked at each other quite befuddled. He then continued, “I am amazed. Shavuot is by far the least practiced Jewish holiday. Nobody knows about it! And yet,…

I started keeping Shabbat in a more traditional way in college. I found that I needed it more than I did in high school. Even though my coursework at NYU was not nearly as challenging as that of my Solomon Schechter Westchester classes, I found that I was often overwhelmed. I was always in class,…

Each of the last three books of the Torah (Vayikra, Bamidbar, and Devarim) includes a list of holidays, and each has its own particular focus. In Sefer Bamidbar, for example, Parashat Pinchas lists the special sacrifices for each holiday in considerable detail. Devarim’s calendar is interested in how the holidays will be observed once the…

A well-known quote of the poet H.N. Bialek says, “Reading the Bible in translation is like kissing your new bride through a veil.” This idea, whether Bialek was the originator or not, is a powerful concept to keep in mind when studying Torah. How does it pertain to the weekly Torah portion? This week we…

Why do people go online and share wild theories about others? Or send in pieces of gossip to gossip girl? What motivates a person to speculate about another person in as public a way as possible? This week, the Torah gets to the root of this issue. Back then, if a person gossiped, they were…

The word Shmini, the title of this week’s parashah, means eighth, specifically, the eighth day. This was my Bat Mitzvah parashah, and back then my father challenged me to find connections to other numbers in the Torah. Like many children, since my father suggested it, my Dvar Torah went in a completely different direction. But…

These days, the word sacrifice seems to have a diminished definition. I hear parents complaining about time that is sacrificed, and for what? Students complain that their studies/sports/music lessons mean they must sacrifice something in order to do something else. I think of my grandfather, my zaide, who left his wife and children to come…

Psychologists studied how criminals defended themselves during parole hearings. These criminals were apologizing for crimes ranging from speeding to murder. Perhaps surprisingly, giving an explanation for the crime was the least successful defense. It had the least impact on the judge. I used to do these sorts of apologies like these all the time. Whether…

On the Holiness of Accounting This week’s parashah comes at the end of a series of several parshiot in a row that collectively describe the construction of the Mishkan, God’s earthly dwelling place and THE location for connecting with God through ritual and sacrifice. This week’s parashah delivers a final accounting and audit of the…

In the spring of 2020, after two decades in education, I became the Middle School Principal at the Hannah Senesh School in Brooklyn – marking my transition from secular to Jewish day schools. One of the immediate and most notable differences between the two communities was the observance of Shabbat. In secular schools, work felt…

In Parashat Ki Tisa, we are introduced to Betzalel, son of Uri, son of Chur, of the tribe of Yehudah. The Torah tells us that God has filled Betzalel with God’s spirit and endowed Betzalel with skill, ability, and knowledge in working with gold, silver, copper, cut stones, and wood. Betzalel will translate all of…

You see a busker playing the violin in a train station. You give them money as you walk past and carry on with your day. But it’s a shame in a way. Just 30 seconds more of your time, and you could have taken this mitzvah to the next level. Thirty seconds more of your…

This week’s parashah begins a series of parashiot (weekly portions) devoted to the description of the Mishkan – a portable, beautiful, and complex temple and divine dwelling place. The Torah specifies later on  – “This is what the contribution that you should take… silver, gold, fine linens, and gemstones.” The term used to describe the…

Parashat Yitro is one of the most pivotal portions in the Torah, as it contains the giving of the Aseret HaDibrot (Ten Commandments) at Har Sinai. However, the parashah does not begin with this monumental event. Instead, it opens with Yitro, Moshe’s father-in-law, offering advice on structuring the leadership of Bnai Yisrael by appointing judges…

By July of 1948, there were 350,000 television sets in the U.S., with three-quarters of them in eastern network cities and half of them around New York City. My parents had one of those television sets, as did my grandparents. From a very young age, I watched a great deal of television, much of which…

The story of our exodus from Egypt isn’t just the beginning of the Jewish nation — it’s also the source of many mitzvot (commandments) in the Torah. Some of these mitzvot are meant to strengthen our connection with God, like wearing tefillin, putting up a mezuzah, or making Kiddush on Shabbat. Others focus on teaching…

As We Place Chumashim in the Hands of our Students: A Thought for Parashat Vaera One of the images from Sefer Shemot (The Book of Exodus) that is ingrained in my memory, and which I remember first encountering as a child, comes from Parashat Vaera. Moshe and Aharon are preparing for their showdown with Paraoh,…

Sefer Bereshit (Genesis) is the creation story of the world, of nature, of humanity. Sefer Shemot (Exodus) is the creation story of the Jewish people. It is the story of a people who were strangers in a strange land. They were enslaved and oppressed, ruled over by taskmasters. However, this does not make the Israelites…

And God created humankind in the divine image,creating it in the image of God—creating them male and female.(Sefaria: Genesis: 1:27) When thinking back to my years in Hebrew School and to my becoming a bat mitzvah at the age of thirteen, I realize that I never learned the concept of “B’tzelem Elohim,” in the image…

In this week’s parashah, we read Judah’s devastatingly beautiful speech to Joseph. It is this speech that will finally break through the facade of Joseph’s foreignness. This speech will convince Joseph that his brothers have changed and that he can reveal himself to them.  When Joseph wants his brothers to abandon Benjamin with him, Judah…

While Joseph is not considered one of the avot (founding fathers), his story continues the building of Abraham’s family into a nation. His story does diverge from his predecessors. While previous leaders dealt with one contemporary, Joseph deals with 12 brothers. And instead of a rivalry like Yaakov and Esav or a respectful relationship like…

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam… When I’m in Israel, I seem to have more names than one can count. There are people who call me “Seth.” There are those who use my Hebrew name. There are about 10 different names that I get called by Israelis who cannot pronounce my name but think…

As a biology teacher at the high school, I rarely find instances to connect the weekly parashah to something I teach. This week, Parshat Vayetzei, however, is a delightful exception – one we even talk about in my ninth-grade honors biology class.  As our patriarch Jacob’s story continues to unfold, we learn about how he…

Hidden Acts of Chesed This past Shabbat, our family hosted a very special guest: Corduroy, a member of Class 1D. Each week, a different student has a chance to bring home this well-loved teddy bear. My first grader was dedicated to ensuring that Corduroy’s time with us would be meaningful for Corduroy. Corduroy lit Shabbat…

Learning Parashat Toldot with students who are nine years old is a treat unlike any other. They discover subtle nuances and ask thoughtful questions that would astonish you. Some students are surprised that the Yitzchak, who Avraham agrees to sacrifice, is the same Yitzchak who is the father of Eisav and Yaakov, the same Yitzchak…

This week’s Torah portion, Parashat Vayera, tells the story of Avraham and Sarah, an elderly couple, and the delivery of good news: “I shall return to you during the Spring season and your wife Sarah will have a son.” This son brings to life the prophecy of having progeny as innumerable as the stars. This…

This week’s parashah begins with a kind of mystery. While we know that God appeared to Avram, and we know what the message was: “Go! To the land that I will show you, and I will make you into a great nation…” We don’t know why God chose to appear davka (specifically) to Avram, and not…

When Joy Increases Pain  Imagine you just got an exam result and it’s great news. You found out that your grade was 98%. Even the most humble of people would want to share that news with others. So how do you do that without showing off? You play it cool. You casually go up to…

Shemini Atzeret has been accused of being the Seinfeld of chagim (holidays). When I was growing up, I loved to watch Seinfeld, even though it was often billed as “a show about nothing,” and Shemini Atzeret is often accused similarly. Pesach is about Yetziat Mitzrayim, the exodus from Egypt. Shavuot is about receiving the Torah on Har…

As a “baby boomer,” I came of age during the Vietnam War. Having written my senior year high school term paper on the beginning of that war, I understood through my research that we would never “win” that war, not in the way that we had defeated Germany and Japan in WWII. It was an…

!זֶה הַקָּטֹן, גָּדוֹל יִהְיֶה — This little one will someday be great! Whenever I attend a bris, that line is always the one that gets me. Just as someone is starting their life, we already start wondering about that person’s potential achievements. In a bizarre way, the same idea pops into my mind in the…

While we may take it for granted that, each week, we simply read the parashah (Torah portion) from where we left off the previous week, there are actually several calculations that go into the timely pairing of a specific Torah portion to a Jewish holiday. For example, Maimonides describes that the Parashat Bamidbar should always be…

What does it take to build a community? In this week’s Torah portion, Ki Tavo, the very first commandment is to grow the land and help it to bear fruit.  And it will be, when you come into the land which the Lord, your God, gives you for an inheritance, and you possess it and…

With due deference to Cecil B. DeMille and the sanctity of the Ten Commandments, we are reminded this week, in abundance, of the rabbinic tradition that the Torah is comprised of more than just Mount Sinai’s fiery decalogue. This week alone, our reading of Ki Teitzei contains 74 out of the traditional 613 commandments. For…

When we read Parashat Shoftim this Shabbat in shul, we will be presented with a series of laws detailing how a king is to conduct himself, once Bnai Yisrael are settled in the land and feel the need to appoint themselves a king. These laws no longer have a day-to-day application, but at least one…

A New Light Shall Shine Upon Zion – אוֹר חָדָשׁ עַל צִיוֹן תָּאִירA Reflection on Parashat Beha’alotcha in Light of Our World Since October 7 On Monday, October 9, we returned to school quiet, pained, and shocked, without really understanding the magnitude of the event the had just occurred. The sadness was deep and immense….

Having attended many graduation exercises in my years as an educator, I have admittedly become quite callous to the rituals of the ceremony. To use the language of the Talmud: I find that the keva (established routines) of graduation – the speeches, presentations, and marching – rarely inspire kavanah (savoring and finding meaning) in the…

I stare at the over 100 year-old document on the screen in front of me. There are the names of family members, my forebears, who sailed across the ocean to land in the “Goldene Medina” of the Lower East Side. After he married in 1888, my great-grandfather took his bride from the cacophony of cultures…

On October 7th, Pri Gan – with a population of approximately 250 people – found itself invaded by terrorists. They had only two people with weapons to defend its residents. They put out a call to nearby towns for backup and were answered immediately by the nine members of the defense team from the town…

My fifty-six year old copy of From Slavery to Freedom (Third Edition) by John Hope Franklin is literally falling apart, but it was the first history book I owned that filled in many of the gaps in my knowledge of African-American history; for me, it is a resource that I continue to use. It was…

The Sounds & Silence Dear Holy Friends,  According to urban legend, there is an old parenting quip that reads, “We spend the first year of our children’s lives teaching them to walk, the second year teaching them to talk, and the next 16 years teaching them to sit down and be quiet.” As humorous as…

The Challenge of HolinessThis week’s parashah, קדושים (Kedoshim – A sacred people) opens with a kind of mission statement: All of B’nei Yisrael should or must strive for kedushah, holiness. “Be holy” – “קדושים תהיו,” the opening verse commands, “כי קדוש אני” – “because I Hashem, your God, am holy”. But what does it mean…

What kind of person walks a goat into a ravine?   In the ritual for Yom Kippur described in Acharei Mot, two goats are chosen; one “wins”– is sacrificed to God – and one “loses” and becomes the scapegoat, carrying the sins of the people into the wilderness, to be thrown off a ravine and…

As I awakened the other morning, I was brought up sharply by the news that Iran had rained down over 200 drones on Israel; yet, the Iron Dome and the Arrow 3 defense systems repelled most of the projectiles. How or with what will the Israeli government retaliate against the Iranians? I am a suburban…

This Shabbat and with Pesach on the horizon, we will read Parashat Tazria, which is more frequently read as part of a Tazria-Metzora double parashah, made unnecessary by this year’s second month of Adar. Either way, one of the topics we will encounter this week and continue reading about next week is tzaraat, a disfiguring…

Gadi Eisenkot, the former Chief of Staff of the IDF and current War Cabinet member in Israel, was reviewing IDF operation on December 7th when a casualty notification officer entered the room. He did not need to utter a word for everyone in the room to understand that Gadi Eisenkot’s son was killed in battle….

One of the things we train our students to look for when they read Chumash is words or phrases that repeat. A close reading of Parashat Tzav will reveal that, by far, the most commonly repeated phrase in the parashah is “את אהרן ואת בניו…” – “…to Aharon and to his sons.” Over and over,…

It is well known that pondering each week’s Torah portion is a ritual that helps us mark the passage of time. The text of the Torah is immutable but each time we return to it, we have changed, and this changes our relationship with and reactions to the ideas we encounter in each reading. For…

Last week, my great anticipation was finally satisfied as the large box arrived on my doorstep. After awkwardly schlepping it inside, I cautiously enter the kitchen and search for an implement to pry open the curious container. Keep in mind, that I’ve broken nails, given myself cardboard paper cuts, and said a few choices words…

What does it mean to give with a generous heart? And more importantly, how do we model it, cultivate it, and build it in our children? How do we build generosity of spirit?  In Parshat Vayakhel’s description of the donations to the Mishkan (Tabernacle), one phrase seems essential:  כֹּ֚ל נְדִ֣יב לִבּ֔וֹ יְבִיאֶ֕הָ (Exodus 35:5) Anyone…

The Golden Calf and the Power of Curious Conversations In this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Ki Tisa, we encounter one of the most infamous incidents in the history of the Israelites — the creation of the Golden Calf. This event serves as a cautionary tale about the Israelites’ impatience and lack of faith. However, amidst…

Which is more worthy of praise: doing exactly as you are instructed or independently doing something without being asked? Let’s take an example: should a teenager receive more credit for washing the dishes when you asked them or when after dinner one day, they just start washing the dishes without being asked?  The opening verses…

Friends and some relatives wondered if I would keep my maiden name after I married. Frankly, I was tired of spelling out Schaechter: “S-C-H-A-E-C-H-T-E-R. No, it’s A-E-C-H.” I thought: “Bloch is a piece of cake.” However, I did not realize that I would begin spelling once again: “That’s Bloch, B-L-O-C-H.” Changing my name from Schaechter…

We often promote The Leffell School as preparing the next generation of Jewish leaders. And as such, Parashat Yitro, this week’s Torah portion, seems very relevant, as it offers several valuable lessons for future (and current) leaders – particularly in the opening chapter when Yitro, Moshe’s father-in-law, leaves his home in Midyan to reunite his…

This week’s parashah recounts one of the most memorable and most significant, unifying events in the history of the Jewish people. We come to the cinematic cliffhanger – the newly freed Israelites have safely crossed the sea and are being pursued by Pharoah and all the forces of the Egyptian army. God causes the sea…

As we turn in the Torah to Parashat Bo this week, we find ourselves in the middle of the ten plagues. Just after barad (hail), and right before arbeh (locusts), to be exact. In the middle of all of this, in a brief interchange with Moshe that could easily be overlooked, God shares not just…

The Book of Names? Dear Friends, Last Shabbat we began the second book of the Torah, which is often referred to as the Book of Exodus. Nonetheless, a more accurate translation of the beginning of the new book is taken from the opening Hebrew words ואלה שמות (v’eyleh shemot) or These are the Names. Sefer…

Turning curses into blessings… “וַאֲבָרֲכָה מְבָרְכֶיךָ וּמְקַלֶּלְךָ אָאֹר” – “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.”   This promise that God made to Abraham has a hidden dimension that makes it even more potent – our attitude toward what happens ultimately shapes what is a curse and what is…

An ancient conversation in a modern context…  July 4, 1976 was the bicentennial of the ratification of the Declaration of Independence. Americans woke up that morning to news that an elite Israeli commando unit had clandestinely flown thousands of miles to release and bring home over 100 hostages who had been taken captive for being…

It is almost time to wash the wax off our chanukiyot and set the table for Shabbat. Another Chanukah is over, and we will read and chant parashat Miketz, one more episode of “The Joseph Story” and one more link to the Exodus from Egypt. Though the Torah begins with enticement and temptation, murder, destruction,…

Early winter is a time of confluences and transitions. Light meets dark, ice meets sun, and we stand in the proverbial doorway: neither truly here nor truly there, yet somehow fully in both places at once. It can feel destabilizing; we are teetering on the brink. This time of year is rife with such “liminal…

Echoes of Our Past Parashat VaYishlach is replete with episodes that eerily correspond to the current situation of the Jewish people today. In three of these episodes, we find an underlying common denominator, which might offer us a lesson for today. Episode One: The parashah begins with a scared Jacob. Ever since Jacob had underhandedly…

A few months before the Chofetz Chaim’s death in 1933, the Rosh Yeshivah of the Radin Yeshivah asked him about the fate of the Jewish people.  With the rise of Naziism in Europe and the proliferation of its virulent ideologies across the globe, the Rosh Yeshivah was looking for hope at a time that seemed…

Imagine you are Yitzchak. You are born into a family, or rather THE family moving forward. You are the first next link in the chain that is destined, so you’ve been told, to be the beginning of a new epoch. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to continue in the legacy of…

Given the name of the parashah, Chayei Sarah, “the Life of Sarah,” one might assume that the parashah would continue on with a recap of Sarah’s life and her accomplishments. Instead the parashah goes in another direction. Of course, at the start of the parashah, we learn about the death of Sarah and her burial…

What should we be praying for these days? When it comes to the news, it can be hard to know. Our emotions may range from existential fear and blazing rage to deep grief and, if we’re lucky, brief instances of relief or joy — pride for our soldiers and gratitude for the handful of released…

We are all familiar that this week’s parashah begins with God telling Avram to travel (Lech Lecha) to an unknown land that He will show him and, just a few verses later, we see that Avram does just that. In Genesis 12:4, the Torah records that “Abram went forth as the Lord had commanded him,…

The past two weeks have been absolutely horrific. Despite the fear, sadness, and anger we have all felt since October 7, I still want to believe that there are no coincidences in life, and that everything is divine providence. Reading this week’s parashah bolstered this view, as we see hamas, translated as violent lawlessness, discussed…

When we read Parashat Bereshit in shul this Shabbat, we will likely focus on the end results of each day of creation, and I think that makes sense on many levels. There is the comfortably familiar repetition of “vayehi erev, vayehi voker” – there was evening and there was morning – at the end of each…

Saturday Night Live: At a Local Shul By You A Chassidic tale by the Baal Shem Tov teaches that on the morning after Simchat Torah, exhausted from the hakafot and festivities of the previous evening’s revelry, everyone slept late. Nonetheless, the heavenly angels, unencumbered by the constraints of human fatigue, arose for morning prayers at…

I love fall. Though I was not thrilled by all of the recent rain over last Shabbat and Yom Kippur, I reveled in the coolness and knew that fall was on its way. The sukkah was up, and I realized how the ghosts of Sukkot past added memory after memory as I stood for the…

Anyone who has ever worked as a rabbi or a Jewish educator in a school or shul knows that announcing pages and giving instructions during davening is an expectation that comes with the territory. All the more so during Aseret Yemei Teshuvah when we find ourselves saying some version of: remember/be on the lookout for/don’t…

While officially on school break over the last two months, many of the faculty found themselves preparing for an eventual return to campus. Hours were filled reading, researching, collaborating, and writing. Curricula were revisited, conversations were had, and Zoom meetings malfunctioned! Yet, before we blinked, we all resumed our commutes over bridges, coordinated carpools, and…

(Note: These thoughts in advance of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur first appeared in The Wexner Foundation’s Wexner Leads Newsletter)   If you’d asked me 25 years ago whether I hoped to become a Jewish educator, I would likely have said yes. If you’d asked me, within that, whether I envisioned myself becoming a Holocaust…

“A successful kehilah requires boundaries.” If you feel you have already heard the quote above, it is either because you were at one time a junior at The Leffell School (doubt it) or you are a member of the Leffell Tanakh department (tell me if you were). This big idea goes hand in hand with…

A spy by any other name would still smell as bitter . . . “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.” (William Shakespeare) I was somewhat surprised, when reading over this week’s parashah, to discover that the Hebrew word for spy is never used in…

[Author’s note: As you read this dvar Torah, please click on the linked phrases for visual and historical context.] Today, the Star of David, also known as the “Jewish” star, is the most popular and recognizable Jewish icon. Napkins for Chanukah, summer camp logos, and restaurant storefronts all incorporate the Jewish star to signify their…

The classic Roman myth of Narcissus is a scary one. In one of the most famous versions of the tale, Ovid’s Metamorphoses (written in 8 C.E.), the hunter Narcissus sees his reflection in the water and falls in love with it. When he realizes his love is unrequited, he continues to stare at his own…

One of the most prominent Shavuot traditions is the Tikkun Leil Shavuot — the act of dedicating time on Shavuot evening, potentially the entire evening, to learning Torah. Traditionally speaking, we spend the entire night studying in preparation for re-receiving the Torah on Shavuot, much as our ancestors spent the entire night in eager anticipation…

There are 21 school days left this year. I counted. Our students probably have a countdown. Our whole community — parents, teachers, and bus drivers alike — are counting, too. Why is this count so important? Is it a celebration of how much was accomplished in the 151 days prior? Is it a yearning for…

Ask not what others can do for you, but what you can do for others . . .   If I could sum up our goal for the sophomore experience, that would be it. Our sophomores have spent the year learning about homelessness and poverty. One piece that stands out to me every year is when…

Parsashat Emor begins with two entire chapters of rules that Moshe is to share with Aharon and his offspring, who will become the Cohanim, Judaism’s priestly class, charged with overseeing the sacrificial process. The rules govern how they will serve at the altar, as well as whom they may marry, whose funerals they may attend,…

As an adolescent sitting in an afternoon Hebrew School, I did not always give my full attention to my teachers, but I tended to listen to them when discussions of the Rabbis Hillel and Shammai were involved. I have no idea why that was except that I probably thought it “cool” that two rabbis were…

One of my prized possessions, which is professionally framed and hangs on the wall in my living room, is a damaged yeriyah, or panel, from a Sefer Torah. It has five amudim, or columns, containing the entirety of Parashat Tazria and the beginning of Parashat Metzora, which we read together this Shabbat as a double…

When Israel was in Egypt’s land,Let my people go,oppressed so hard they could not stand,Let my people go.Go down, Moses, way down in Egypt’s land,tell old Pharaoh: Let my people go   …so go the opening lyrics from the African-American spiritual, which many Jewish Americans add to their seder playlists. “Let my people go” is…

Wouldn’t it be great if we could do our Pesach cleaning once and be done with it for a lifetime? Perhaps the hardest thing about cleaning is the understanding that we’ll just have to do it again tomorrow. Dust the house? A new layer of dust will appear in an hour! Do the laundry? The…

Parshat Vayikra is seemingly impractical. It describes korbanot (offerings or sacrifices) that we can no longer bring without a Beit haMikdash (Temple) and describes in detail the exact process for the different types of korbanot. Yet, our tradition has always been nimble and flexible, able to pivot and redirect.  In the eyes of the chassidic…

What makes a community? This week’s parashah tries to answer that question in its own way.Vayakhel/Pekudei begins with Moshe reminding Bnai Yisrael about the laws of Shabbat and it goes on to share a VERY detailed description on building the Mishkan. We learn about the curtains, the length of the ark, the delicate design of…

This week’s parashah, Ki Tisa, is not just about the Egel haZahav/Golden Calf, as the community goes astray when they demand of Aaron a god who will go “before them.” Sure, the bulk of the parashah contains the story of a newly freed nation feeling so abandoned, anxious, and afraid that they sinfully resort to…

This Shabbat, when we read Parashat Tetzaveh, there will be an obvious question implicit in the text, and yet we may never have asked it before. Toward the beginning of the parashah, in the first pasuk of perek 28, God commands Moshe that he should bring forward his brother Aharon, together with Aharon’s four sons,…

“But I neeeed that!” might be a common refrain in our homes. However, as our second graders can attest, there is a difference between “wants” and “needs” in communities.  As part of a social studies unit, our second graders learn about the different wants and needs of people in suburban, urban, and rural areas and…

In my youth, Jim Anderson was a paterfamilias par excellence in Father Knows Best, a script writer’s dream of a great post-war American family. There was never a problem too knotty for Jim to handle. His anger was controlled; he never yelled at his children. Yes, he could be perplexed, but every problem was solved…

For people who believe in such things, the power of a good luck prayer — a segulah — is no joke. Want to find a romantic match? Read “Shirat Hayam,” the “Song at the Sea” from Parashat Beshalach, every day. Looking for greater parnasah, more wealth? Read the passage about the manna that the Children…

Man-Made MiraclesEven the Academy of Motion Pictures would struggle to categorize a cinematic production of Parshat Bo. The telling in Exodus of the last of the plagues and the subsequent wondrous exit of the Israelites from Egypt is an action-packed story of adventure, suspense, horror, fantasy, and, with an eye looking forward to Parashat Beshalach,…

I’m always excited to see Parashat Vaera coming up on the calendar — not because of the many famous stories or lines in it, but because, in many years, Parashat Vaera means it’s time for the annual Eighth- Grade Shabbaton. I’ll be joining the eighth graders this year, as I have many times. It’s one…

What’s in a name? The first chapter of the book of Shemot, which literally translates as “names,” puts a special emphasis on names initially; the Torah recounts the names of the sons of Yaacov as one of the first things it does in this parashah, before it even begins the narrative of the subsequent enslavement…

The History of the Future Alexander of Macedonia plays an interesting role in the Talmud: the antagonist to the Rabbinic protagonists. Tamid 32a tells of Alexander interrogating our Sages. At one point, he asks the question, “איזהו חכם”, “Who is wise?” Instead of answering, “One who learns from everyone” — the better-known answer from Pirkei…

Those of us in the field of communications and marketing are always thinking about how to craft and deliver a message that will be appropriately received by the intended audience. So it feels like quite the coincidence that this same concept happens to appear in the parashah for which I volunteered to write the weekly…

One of the longest running sitcoms, which I watched growing up, is no doubt familiar to you as well! Seinfeld was an American sitcom television series created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989 to May 14, 1998 — nine seasons and 180 episodes! The show starred Seinfeld…

What is the right balance between pride and humility? When teaching our children, how much pride should we encourage? Too much pride can come across as arrogance, but self-confidence is essential to living in the world and getting things accomplished. How do we teach both in a healthy way? Yaakov Avinu seems to live his…

When we think of the important moments in Parashat Vayetzei, there are many that likely stick out in our minds. For me, I think of Yaakov escaping from his brother Esav, and then his dream of angels ascending and descending the ladder. I think of Yaakov’s time with Lavan, during which he meets and ultimately…

The Torah presents the concept of the sacred and the profane almost from the beginning. Even though humans were created b’tselem Elohim, in the image of God, we know that the profane, that evil, existed even in the Garden of Eden. It seems as if God created duality in the universe to compel humans to weigh…

WHO do you want to be when you grow up?  “What do you want to be when you grow up?” “An astronaut!” “A doctor!” “The president!” “A Hershey’s quality control taste-tester!” No matter what answer you get, this question leads children to think about their future in terms of a career instead of the life…

In QB VII, American author Leon Uris writes, “The only thing that is going to save mankind is if enough people live their lives for something or someone other than themselves.” Avraham must have felt similarly, because the hospitality he showed to complete strangers in this week’s parashah is unparalleled. While there are people out…

Last week, in Parashat Noach, we read that just after the flood was over and the rainbow appeared in the sky, the people of Babel tried to challenge God’s rule by building a tower to heaven. God scattered them from there and confounded the speech of the whole earth, and so began the new version…

Bereshit, in the beginning, we note the activities of God in the creation of our world: Separating light and darkness to bring day and night to the planet; separating water from water to bring us water and sky; separating the water below the sky to bring us Earth and Seas; bringing forth vegetation and seed-bearing…

This month of Tishrei is full of beginnings. Rosh HaShanah marks the beginning of the Jewish calendar. More recently, we just celebrated Simchat Torah, when we read both Vezot HaBracha, the last parashah of the Torah, and Bereshit, the first parashah. This is to emphasize that our study of the Torah is not linear, but…

Isn’t one Yom Kippur enough? We make such a big deal about the “closing of the gates” at the end of Yom Kippur, and then, evidently the gates open again. The rabbis teach that we have another day like Yom Kippur — Hoshana Rabah, the last day of Chol Hamoed Sukkot — on which we…

The Strength of InstabilityThe year 1985 was a challenging one for those of us celebrating the holidays of Tishrei in New York. Tropical storm Henri hit on Erev Yom Kippur and lasted through part of the next day. Three days later, Hurricane Gloria hit New York on the Friday/Shabbat leading into Sukkot. While I’m sure…

As we find ourselves between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, we identify this period as Aseret Yemei Teshuvah — the Ten Days of Repentance, or more literally, the Ten Days of Return. Our focus this week is meant to be on identifying areas where we fell short in the year that has passed, and if…

This parashah begins with an unusual word choice. Moses, positioned on the precipice of the Land of Israel, surveys the nation gathered in front him and declares: אַתֶּם נִצָּבִים הַיּוֹם כֻּלְּכֶם לִפְנֵי ה’ אֱלֹקיכֶם — “You stand today, all of you, before your God . . . ” The word “stand” here is the name…

Wouldn’t it be lovely to cut out the more difficult parts of life? It certainly sounds like a dream come true. In the Apple TV show Severance, the main characters choose to be “severed” from a part of their lives so that they don’t have to experience the pain of living. Of course, as the…

As a rabbi with a background in architecture, one of my favorite mitzvot comes in this week’s parashah. In the midst of a long list of different mitzvot, the Torah teaches us what we are expected to do if we build a new house with a flat roof: כִּ֤י תִבְנֶה֙ בַּ֣יִת חָדָ֔שׁ וְעָשִׂ֥יתָ מַעֲקֶ֖ה לְגַגֶּ֑ךָ…

There is no such thing as free food.  “זָכַרְנוּ אֶת הַדָּגָה אֲשֶׁר נֹאכַל בְּמִצְרַיִם חִנָּם אֵת הַקִּשֻּׁאִים וְאֵת הָאֲבַטִּחִים וְאֶת הֶחָצִיר וְאֶת הַבְּצָלִים וְאֶת הַשּׁוּמִים”.“We remember the fish that we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic.”Yes, the above description appears in this week’s parashah…

The Torah does not waste words. We teach our students that each word of Torah is to be understood, investigated, mined for meaning, raised up. Yet in Parashat Naso, we hear repeated 12 times the exact same words detailing the exact same gifts brought by each nasi (prince) of each tribe — 89 almost identical…

In order to better understand the four seemingly disparate fall festivals legislated in the Torah, Chazal (the Sages) explain that each festival is actually an interconnected part of a larger framework for achieving teshuvah. This is why we call the period from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur the Aseret Yemei Teshuvah (Ten Days of Repentance)…

We are not on the same page.   I am writing on a train that will be departing Jerusalem in a few minutes, on my way to the airport to return from accompanying our seniors on their final journey with us as students at Leffell. As an American visiting Israel, I could not help but…

Shavuot, with its late-night study sessions and slices of creamy cheesecake, is nearly upon us. Though the Omer is a bittersweet time, it is a time for reflection, a time for reconnecting with our inner qualities, and a time to think about social justice. How do we relate to our families, our friends, our neighbors,…

Holiness, as described in the Book of Leviticus, is a rather dreary affair. It is directed mainly at priests, and their role serving in the sacred precinct of the Temple. But certain verses seem to have a double identity — they mean one thing in the specific context of priests and sacrifices, and something more…

Parashat Kedoshim is almost exclusively a list of mitzvot (commandments) that cover a wide array of topics: idol worship, how to treat disenfranchised people, Shabbat, and sexual mores among them. Many of the mitzvot are punctuated with a phrase reminding the listener of the source of these commandments: אֲנִי ה׳ אֱלֹקיכֶם, אֲנִי ה׳, וְיָרֵאתָ מֵּאֱלֹקיךָ…

On Yom Kippur, Jews across the world recite the verses from Parashat Achrei Mot that detail the ritual of the sacrifices offered on the holiest of days by the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest, on behalf of the entire Jewish people and indeed, all people of the earth. The Kohen Gadol was the only Kohen entrusted…

By now, the pasta boxes are gone, the bread is finished, and the Oreos have been replaced with kosher-for-Passover chocolate covered marshmallows, a mainstay of my Pesach life, though I have been known to devour the kosher-for-Passover chocolate covered jels, too. Our cholesterol rises by about 200 points with the multitude of eggs we consume….

In this week’s bizarre Torah portion of מְּצֹרָ֔ע, Metzora, we read of the rituals surrounding one who contracts leprosy and how the afflicted, through the intervention of the priests, can eventually transform back to a state of ritual purity. Our rabbinic tradition invokes a word play on the term מְּצֹרָ֔ע to suggest that the illness…

There is a strange paradox in our reading this coming Shabbat. The month in which Pesach falls has its own special status; it is the month, the month of all months, and even the Shabbat on which we announce its arrival, this week, is named Shabbat Hachodesh, the Shabbat of the month. Strangely, even as…

What values does the Torah try to teach us from a list of random birds? As a biologist I can’t help but be drawn to the zoological lessons from our tradition. In this week’s parashah, Parashat Shmini, The Torah lists the rules for what makes many different categories of animals kosher. From an explanation of…

Purim is one of my favorite holidays. The reason why I love Purim so much is that it is deeper than it appears. It can easily be overlooked as a silly holiday. Though the story comes from Tanakh, it is a rabbinic holiday and certainly not as important as Yom Kippur or Sukkot. Part of…

The parashah of Vayikra kicks off the new book of Vayikra (Leviticus), but is perhaps most famous for its textual anomaly. According to tradition, the alef of the word Vayikra is intentionally written in what a modern reader might call a smaller ‘point size’ than the rest of the word. And as opposed to some…

Transparency. This has become a byword of the last few years. Every person in every field seems to want transparency. We want transparency in how many people are ill with Covid. How many people have been vaccinated? How much money has been spent on masks? On vaccines? On medication? On hospital necessities? How is our…

Learning from Your Brother Last week’s Torah reading was a disaster for Moshe. From the account of his birth at the beginning of Exodus until the very end of the Torah, it is the only parashah in which Moshe’s name does not appear even once. And the absence of his name is accentuated by the…

“I have set My bow in the clouds, and it shall serve as a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow appears in the clouds, I will remember My covenant between Me and you and every living creature among all flesh, so that…

This week‘s Torah portion, תרומה (Terumah – Offering), prescribes the giving of donations by Bnai Yisrael (The Children of Israel) to a major campaign, with the aim of constructing a divine home for God — the Mishkan — a means through which the people can connect, celebrate, and coalesce around Avodat Hashem — serving God….

Parashat Mishpatim teaches us not only about laws and mitzvot, but about responsibility. What are our duties to one another? What do we owe each other in specific circumstances? How do we apply what we learn from this parashah’s specific situations to our lives today, when many of these laws don’t seem to apply at…

This week’s parashah contains a subtle, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment that is nevertheless loaded with meaning and worth a closer look. Given the prominence of the experience on Har Sinai, complete with thunder, lightning and the Aseret HaDibrot, it is natural that Moshe’s time with his father-in-law Yitro at the beginning of the parashah might receive less…

In an old Wizard of Id comic strip, the fatuous Earl asks one of the peasants: “Peasant, how are they treating you?,” to which the peasant surprisingly replies: “I can’t complain.” The Earl follows up: “How nice. Why do you say that?,” in response to which the peasant explains: “It’s forbidden.” One of the surprising…

In chapter 5 of Pirkei Avot, there is a list of ten things that were created just before sundown on the sixth day of creation: פִּי הָאָרֶץ, וּפִי הַבְּאֵר, וּפִי הָאָתוֹן, וְהַקֶּשֶׁת, וְהַמָּן, וְהַמַּטֶּה, וְהַשָּׁמִיר, וְהַכְּתָב, וְהַמִּכְתָּב, וְהַלּוּחוֹתThe mouth of the earth [that swallowed Korach]; and the mouth of the well [that accompanied the Jewish…

Is Moshe the reincarnation of Noah? If you’ve never thought about this before, there are elements of their stories that are strikingly similar. They both were saved by an ark/boat (called a teiva in both stories), the boat/float were both sealed with pitch, Noah spent 40 days and nights in the ark as the rain…

As he nears the end of his life, Jacob makes a surprising reappearance as a key player in what has mostly been the saga of Joseph and his brothers. He first calls Joseph’s sons Ephraim and Menashe, then all of his own sons, to give each a final blessing. Jacob is the first biblical figure…

This dvar Torah is dedicated לעילוי נשמת חיים גבריאל בן אברהם שמעון ומישה קיילא ז”ל. May Gavri Benson’s neshamah have an aliyah.  כל ישראל עריבים זה בזה – Shavuot 39a: All Jews are guarantors for one another. All Jews are mixed together. All Jews are responsible for one another. While we explored multiple ways of…

“American History: Warts and All” should have been the title of my high school history course. Highlighted were massacres of Native Americans, the expulsion of Jews, Catholics, Quakers, and others from the Puritan community, the horrors of slavery and Jim Crow, etc., etc. — yet, my classmates and I learned how important it was to…

Jews are often called the People of the Book, but sometimes I think of us as the People of the Dream, taking part with the brilliant dreamers of all nations of the world.  Dreams have an awesome power: to imprison or liberate; to destroy or rescue. וַיִּרְא֥וּ אֹת֖וֹ מֵרָחֹ֑ק וּבְטֶ֙רֶם֙ יִקְרַ֣ב אֲלֵיהֶ֔ם וַיִּֽתְנַכְּל֥וּ אֹת֖וֹ לַהֲמִיתֽוֹ׃וַיֹּאמְר֖וּ…

It is ostensibly Jacob’s goal, at the beginning of this week’s parashah, to make peace with his brother, Esau. On his way back from his sojourn in Lavan’s house, Jacob sends messengers ahead in an attempt to appease his brother, whom Jacob had so deeply hurt all those years before. His initial approach to mollification…

Life over the last year and a half has certainly been a roller coaster ride, with many great highs and low lows — an idea that is represented quite literally in this week’s parashah. Parashat Vayetzei features many iconic moments in the tapestry of our forefather, Yaakov’s long life. Among those moments is the scene…

Growing up in Canada, not shockingly, the passion of the populace revolved around ice hockey (although, as a little-known fact, the official national sport of the country is lacrosse). Everyone looked forward to the nationally televised broadcasts of Hockey Night in Canada. After I moved to the States, religiously involved Jewish friends would often ask,…

This week’s parashah, Chayei Sarah, is actually my favorite out of all the parashiot in the Torah, for three reasons: 1. It is the only parashah in the Torah that is named after a woman (There are only three women who have a parashah or book named after them in the Tanakh — Torah, Prophets,…

Getting Our Priorities Straight While working with one of our seniors who was preparing his drasha, something caught my eye about the word used in this week’s parashah to introduce Abraham’s argument with God to save the people of Sodom. The text uses the word “ויגש” (vayigash) — “And he approached” — to describe Abraham…

In this week’s parashah, in one of Bereshit’s made-for-Hollywood dramatic moments, God takes Avram outside, presumably out of his tent, and tells Avram to look up at the stars. Bereshit 15:5 reads:וַיּוֹצֵ֨א אֹת֜וֹ הַח֗וּצָה וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ הַבֶּט־נָ֣א הַשָּׁמַ֗יְמָה וּסְפֹר֙ הַכּ֣וֹכָבִ֔ים אִם־תּוּכַ֖ל לִסְפֹּ֣ר אֹתָ֑ם וַיֹּ֣אמֶר ל֔וֹ כֹּ֥ה יִהְיֶ֖ה זַרְעֶֽךָ׃God says to Avram — look up at the…

This week’s parashah contains the second time that God decides to start the world from scratch. Within ten generations of Adam and Eve, the world has become so corrupt that God needs to hit a reset button. And Noah becomes the progenitor of all those who will live in World 2.0. The Torah refers to…

As I write, we are celebrating Hoshana Rabah in school, traditionally the last day of the season to acknowledge and rid ourselves of our sins. This is a lot of pressure! What if we haven’t gotten rid of all of it? What if we haven’t finished those things that tempted us to act our worst…

I have always been struck by the irony of reciting Yizkor twice in a brief two-week span during the fall Jewish calendar. This year, having lost two members of my family, my beloved mother and sister, I have struggled even more with the anguish of “forcing” people to confront issues of mortality and loss of…

Clouds‌ ‌and‌ ‌Huts‌ ‌ There‌ ‌is‌ ‌a‌ ‌fascinating‌ ‌debate‌ ‌in‌ ‌a‌ ‌Midrash‌ ‌about‌ ‌what‌ ‌a‌ ‌‌sukkah‌‌ ‌is‌ ‌meant‌ ‌to‌ ‌be.‌ ‌God‌ ‌says‌ ‌we‌ ‌should‌ ‌dwell‌ ‌in‌ ‌‌sukkot‌ ‌‌because‌ ‌God‌ ‌sheltered‌ ‌us‌ ‌in‌ ‌‌sukkot‌‌ ‌as‌ ‌we‌ ‌traveled‌ ‌through‌ ‌the‌ ‌desert.‌ ‌But‌ ‌there‌ ‌is‌ ‌no‌ ‌other‌ ‌mention‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌Israelites‌ ‌having‌ ‌booths‌ ‌during‌ ‌their‌ ‌journey.‌ ‌So‌ ‌what‌…

“Do Not Abandon Us” This Shabbat we will read Parashat Vayeilech as we also mark Shabbat Shuvah and the ten days of repentance leading up to Yom Kippur. In the parashah, as Moshe grows weak and begins to bid farewell to Bnai Yisrael whom he has led through the wilderness, he seems to anticipate and…

Three Thoughts at the End of a Challenging Year Search for meaning.As another great, though challenging school year comes to an end, I want to paraphrase the words of Maimonides and say the following: “A person needs to search for meaning as much as possible, but at times there is no answer and that is…

All going to plan, this Sunday we will swear in a new coalition government in Israel. After an extended period of instability resulting in four elections in two years, we can hope and pray that this strange concatenation of bedfellows manage to successfully steer the country forward. It is perhaps fitting, then, that this week’s…

At the start of parashat Shelach, twelve Israelites are sent by Moshe to investigate the Land of Israel and return with a report describing the land and providing prognoses for gaining control of it. Upon returning from their forty-day audit, ten of the investigators recommend against trying to conquer Eretz Yisrael. They stated: “we came…

It has been a year unlike any other we have experienced in our lifetimes. So, as we approach our annual gala, I want to take this opportunity to reflect back on this year together. In July, members of the Leffell School leadership teams started to meet to explore the myriad of scenarios that needed to…

The “Book of Numbers,” במדבר (Bamidbar), in Hebrew means “wilderness”; however, the English name for this Book of Torah is derived from the Greek word, Ἀριθμοί, “Arithmoi,” from which our word arithmetic comes. Parashat Nasso is truly a book filled with numbers. Nasso is the longest parashah in the Torah, having 176 verses, 311 lines…

When reading a parashah like Bamidbar, one is often tempted to gloss over the detailed numbers and lists of the tribes of Bnai Yisrael or the specifics about how they arranged their tents. However, the Torah takes great pains to teach us ancient census results and desert zoning procedures precisely because our community’s values can…

In this week’s parashah, Behar-Bechukotai, we learn about shemitah, an important mitzvah that applies to the land of Israel. Shemitah is the seventh year in the seven-year agricultural cycle, when the land must be left untouched. After six years, the land rests and whatever grows naturally or is left unharvested is open to anyone at…

Lag BaOmer is an odd moment on the calendar. It isn’t really a holiday — it has no special rituals or rules — and it is defined totally in terms of another, larger process, the counting of the Omer from Pesach to Shavuot. Even more mystifying is the association that has grown up over time…

The time that I felt most flustered as a teacher was when I was teaching a Tanakh lesson to prospective parents on Parashat Kedoshim, half of the dynamic duo of parashiyot that we read this Shabbat. Introducing the concept of kedushah (holiness) with what I thought was a captivating hook, I asked: “What is holy?…

“God helps those who help themselves.” This adage has been recycled throughout the ages in many ways. During World War II, the message came across through the song “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition.” The friction between relying on God to provide for our needs and taking the bull by the horns is a…

“Each Child is Like One Thousand Children, Following this Great Tragedy”  This Thursday, Yom HaShoah or Holocaust Remembrance Day, is observed in Israel and around the world as a day of commemoration for the six million Jews who perished in the Final Solution. While the Shoah constantly informs our collective memory, even if only in…

By the time this dvar Torah appears, Passover will be just days away. I had always wondered why the story of the plagues and the exodus from Egypt was never timed to coincide with the actual seders. Of course, I learned early on that Passover was to be celebrated on the 15th of Aviv, which…

As we opened the book of Leviticus this week and began to read of the sacrificial system commanded in Parashat Vayikra, I asked my juniors in Tefilah which they’d prefer: the smells and power of the sacrificial system, or the words of the siddur? The room was split about 50/50. For some students, the idea…

The Paradox of Wandering Parking space location has become of utmost importance for me at school this year. With long lines of parents waiting to pick up students, the congestion in the lot can become an inconvenience for trying to pull out, particularly if your slot is blocked by the row of cars waiting to…

For those of you who have had the chance to be in shul or even read the Torah portions over the last few weeks, you are aware that we are entrenched in a strange “Ikea-like” phenomenon! Whereas we teach students that the text is parsimonious and rarely repeats itself, here in Exodus we spend four…

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London is devoted to the exploration of design. Among the different media that are on ever-changing display are exhibits on costumes and attire from across the globe and across the sands of time. What I find most interesting about the exhibits are the write-ups by curators who try to…

Standing at Sinai. That phrase has echoed down the millennia, and in the retelling of our ancestors’ flight from Egypt to freedom, each of us is to think of ourselves as standing at Sinai. Years ago, when the Sinai Desert was part of Israel, I climbed what was allegedly Mt. Sinai, Har Sinai, or as…

This week’s parashah, the pinnacle moment for our Peoplehood — the revelation of God and the giving of the Torah at Sinai — is named for a gentile, Yitro. Shouldn’t Moshe Rabbeinu, who climbed the mountain and received the Law, be awarded this place of pride? Who is Yitro, and what is it about him…

A tree in winter appears lifeless. With the leaves gone, skeletal form bare against the elements, what was invisible in summer is now visible: the birds’ nests, the shape of the limbs, the knots and twists. During winter, we are uncertain. Will the tree survive? Will it bloom again? This week we celebrated the holiday…

Facing the unknown. The concept can be daunting. And yet this year, it has become our norm. In reading this week’s parashah, though, I took great comfort in the reality that facing the unknown, and not knowing what it will be like until we get there, is actually built into our national experience as Jews….

At the Passover Seder, the act of retelling the Exodus story is done mainly through a Midrash (interpretation) on Devarim 26:5-8, a brief summary originally recited when bringing the First Fruits to the Temple. It is Midrash in its most basic form, connecting each word or phrase from this text with another verse, mainly from…

Parashat Shemot chronicles the main parts of the story of the Yitziat Mitzraim (Exodus from Egypt). The first few verses begin with the lineage of Yaakov’s (aka Yisrael’s) family. However, the refuge they seek in Egypt doesn’t last forever and the text is quick to point out in verse 8: “וַיָּ֥קָם מֶֽלֶךְ־חָדָ֖שׁ עַל־מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא־יָדַ֖ע…

In a recent article in The New York Times, “The Lasting Damage of a Fractured Family,” Jane Brody writes, “Show me a family that has not been  fractured — temporarily or permanently — by a fury-filled rift between two or more members and I might believe in miracles.” In this week’s parashah, the Divine Hand…

There is a tradition in Judaism that there are 70 facets to the Torah, or 70 ways to interpret anything in the Torah. In this spirit, please enjoy the Dvar Torah below, and if you’d like, read on for two more takes on this week’s parashah. Reading vs Feeling Emotion  On January 23, 1945, the…

For many a pious Jew, a seemingly peculiar question comes up repeatedly throughout the book of Genesis: Why is this written? Why are we reading this? The oddity of the question is self-evident. This is our history, where we come from, the story of our forebears, the foundation of our religion! Yet this query is…

There is no doubt that Thanksgiving is going to look very different this year, which means we will all probably have to work that much harder to connect with loved ones whom we would normally be feasting with around a communal table. It seems particularly fitting that Parashat Vayetzei is falling during the week of…

“You’re the Dread Pirate Roberts; admit it.” “With pride. What can I do for you?” “You can die slowly cut into a thousand pieces.”  Two minutes and 20 seconds later, after talking about her lost love — the farm boy — Buttercup pushes the man in black down a steep ravine after declaring, “You can…

This past Shabbat, the world lost an insightful and influential teacher of Torah and Judaism as we bid farewell to Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z”l. Rabbi Sacks achieved many distinctions in his life, including being the single most frequently cited modern commentator in the history of the Schechter Westchester/Leffell School Senior Drashah program. I think…

I am writing from limbo, waiting with bated breath for the results of this election. I feel the same uncertainty that characterizes the moments following the akeidah (the binding of Isaac) in this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Vayera:  וַיָּשָׁב אַבְרָהָם אֶל־נְעָרָיו וַיָּקֻמוּ וַיֵּלְכוּ יַחְדָּו אֶל־בְּאֵר שָׁבַע (בראשית כב:יט) And Abraham returned to his lads, and…

Love, Food, and Stuffed Animals: Avram’s Journey This week our first-grade meforshim (Torah commentators) were surprised to hear that the Torah doesn’t give us any details of Avram’s childhood that would explain why he was chosen by God to be the very first Jew. The only thing the Torah lists is the genealogical lineage of…

What is the first thing each of us will do when the world opens up? What might it feel like when this particular “flood” is over? Noah’s experience certainly resonates today. Who among us does not feel like Noah, sending out first the raven and then the dove, hoping upon hope that it is time…

Bereshit: A Study of Self As we return, again, to the start of the Torah and immerse in the study of Sefer Bereshit, the following dictum comes to mind: כל מה שאירע לאבות סימן לבנים “Everything that occurred to our forefathers is a sign for the children.” The Midrash Tanchuma explains this rule through a…

I used to think of Simchat Torah as the tack-on of Jewish holidays, a medieval innovation of Diaspora Jews grafted onto the otherwise characterless second day of Shemini Atzeret. This idea was totally upended for me by a wonderful article by Professor Shlomo Naeh of the Hebrew University, who shows that the roots of the…

Jewish rituals have an elegant way of bringing the past and future together simultaneously in a simple moment. This makes Judaism especially adaptable to different places and conditions — an important trait during this year in particular. Sukkot is a beautiful case study; the Torah commands us to “dwell in a sukkah for seven days.”…

“Listen!”  “You never listen to me!”  “If you were listening, you would have realized. . . ”  We are probably as likely to have these utterances directed at us as we are to be the ones saying them. We recognize the importance of listening when we want to be heard, yet we struggle to assign…

Perspective.  It is one of my favorite concepts because it is helpful in multiple ways. It teaches empathy, how we try to see situations from someone else’s perspective. It teaches that we as humans are one piece of a bigger picture when we try to put our personal situations into the larger world perspective. It…

This week’s parashah is Nitzavim and it is hard to imagine a better parashah to describe this moment in time for our community. As we reflect on our first week back in person after 185 days at home, our community is once again standing together as one.  The opening line in our parashah reads: אַתֶּם…

“Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react to it.” This famous quote by Charles Swindoll is a central theme that is interwoven into the sophomore experience at The Leffell School, but it is also very apropos for this week’s parashah. Ki Tavo contains the largest collection of curses…

I love that the Torah often teaches us lessons on multiple levels, requiring us to delve and drash, to find meaning through hints and even hidden messages. At the same time, the Torah can also be blunt and straightforward, and I appreciate that as well. In this week’s parashah, the Torah teaches us one such crystal clear…

It is difficult to be an innocent reader when we come to this week’s parashah. When we read about Moshe sending the twelve spies to scout the land of Canaan, we already know how it is going to turn out. But it’s worth recalling that this is not knowledge that the protagonists themselves were privy…

In this week’s parashah, we are given more insight into the relationship among three fascinating siblings: Miriam, Aharon, and Moshe. I find this family to be a refreshing break from the sibling drama of the book of Bereshit — no more sibling rivalries, no fighting over birthrights or husbands, or selling into slavery. To do…

On July 22, 2016, while taking Jewish high school teens on a summer road trip, we made it to the next stop on our itinerary, Hugs Cafe in McKinney, Texas. Hugs successfully trains and employs adults with special needs. I wanted to expose my students to their founder Ruth, a changemaker who created a restaurant…

Have you ever thought about how brave the Israelites were? Standing at Sinai they were asked to make a commitment to a god who for hundreds of years was incommunicado and to a law code which demanded a set of societal norms radically different from anything they had ever experienced. Yet, the Israelites were fearless….

I had an interesting conversation with a group of seniors a few months ago. They were asked what advice they would give their younger selves. A few shared “it is not about the destination, but about the journey.” I hope they are remembering that wisdom during these challenging times. The Israelites could have also benefited…

One of the radical mitzvot that comes up in the first of this week’s two parashiot is the mitzvah of shmitah, also known as sheviit – the seventh or sabbatical year. As if it wasn’t radical enough to set aside one day a week on which we accomplish no productive work whatsoever, here we learn that we should set aside every seventh year to…

This Shabbat when we read Parashat Emor, in our homes if not in our shuls, we will read two pesukim that many of us have been including in our tefilot for the past four weeks. It is here, in Vayikra 23:15-16, that we learn of the commandment to count the Omer every night between Pesach…

A few thoughts between Shoah and Tkuma (Revival) Be my friend Be my brother, give me a hand when I’ll call,הֱיֵה לִי חָבֵר, הֱיֵה לִי אָח, הוֹשֵׁט לִי יָד כְּשֶׁאֶקְרָא,Be my friend Be my brother, give me a hand in times of trouble,הֱיֵה לִי חָבֵר, הֱיֵה לִי אָח, הוֹשֵׁט לִי יָד בְּעֵת צָרָה,I’m your brother,…

A few years ago, while driving through Luxembourg, I by chance passed the city’s main synagogue. I pulled over to visit. As is often the custom, a verse from the Bible was etched in the stone above the entrance, but this time, it was a verse that I had never seen before: “גָּדוֹל יִהְיֶה כְּבוֹד…

The Jewish calendar is set up in such a way that Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Memorial Day) always comes on the heels of Pesach. Pesach begins on the eve of the 15th of Nisan, and 12 days later, on the eve of the 27th of Nisan, we begin our commemoration of Yom HaShoah.  The date for Yom HaShoah was chosen because of…

This week, we will read Parashat Tzav—not in our synagogues, which are all closed as a result of the pandemic, but perhaps in our homes. Traditionally, this Shabbat is Shabbat HaGadol, the Great Shabbat that heralds Pesach next week with an even more meaningful than usual drashah in shul. This year, it may more aptly be Shabbat HaKatan, the Small Shabbat, as…

As we hunker down in our homes, connected through technology yet separated by walls, we try to stay up-to-date on the news. It seems each day brings with it a new set of rules and regulations monitoring our movements, interactions and mindsets. Indeed, on occasion, the rules introduced today are meant to void the rules…

This dvar Torah is dedicated to our son Jojo — who, as of yesterday, is officially a bar mitzvah! Mazal tov, Jojo! A special thank you goes out to the whole Leffell School community, Rabbi Joan Forchheimer in particular, for enabling us — and the Bellman Family: Mazal tov, Sarina! — to celebrate this simcha…

In the morning, there are two berachot before the Shema, and one after. In the evenings, there are two berachot before the Shema, and two after. The themes of the two berachot before and the first one after the Shema are static; the words change, but the themes remain the same, morning and evening. But the second berachah after the Shema in the…

Leadership is complicated. And in Judaism, it is multivocal. This week, we will read about the commandment to create the role of the priest within our tradition, including the special vestments they are to wear and the role that they should play in society. There is grandeur, pomp and circumstance in everything, ranging from the…

If you build it, God will come! Parashat Terumah details instructions for how Bnai Yisrael is to build the mishkan (tabernacle), a portable temple, while Bnai Yisrael wanders in the desert.  The instructions for building the mishkan are replete with meticulous detail—everything from the exact dimensions of various parts of the mishkan, to the specific materials to be used, to…

This week, we read Parashat Yitro, interrupting the narrative of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt to put into place a judicial system and then give us ten statements from God. The statements prohibit behaviors that are morally wrong, that disrupt society and violate a universal value of treating each other with dignity and respect. God…

Irony of ironies: On Saturday, January 27, 1945, it was the Soviet Army that liberated Auschwitz. It was Shabbat Shirah, the Shabbat of Song, the Shabbat that contains Moshe’s Song to God after the Israelites have successfully crossed the Sea of Reeds. A few pesukim later, Moshe’s sister, Miriam the prophetess, leads the women in a celebration…

For the past couple of weeks, and this Shabbat as well, we have been reading about the lead-up to yetziat Mitzrayim — the exodus from Egypt. More specifically, we have watched as Moshe repeatedly asked Pharaoh to “let my people go,” accompanied by a plague that seems to convince Pharaoh to release the Israelites . . ….