Rabbi Shabbat Greetings

In our double-portion concluding the Book of Numbers, Matot-Masei (Numbers 30:2-36:13), the Torah does something unexpected. It lists every place the Israelites camped during their forty years in the wilderness. Forty-two stops.…

Read More

We read Pinchas (Numbers 25:10-30:1), a Torah portion that looks toward the future of the Jewish people. Tomorrow, we will celebrate the 250th anniversary of America’s Declaration of Independence, giving thanks for…

Read More

There is something fitting about reading the double portions of Chukat/Balak (Numbers 19:1-25:9) while preparing to sit beside the ocean this evening with our friends from Monmouth Reform Temple. The Torah portions take us…

Read More

In this week’s Torah portion, Korach (Numbers 16:1-18:32), we encounter a story about leadership, responsibility, and the challenges that arise when people lose sight of what binds a community together. Korach and his followers…

Read More

This week we read Sh’lach L’cha (Numbers 13:1-15:41) the story of the twelve scouts sent to explore the Land of Israel. Ten return with a report shaped by fear. They see obstacles, dangers,…

Read More

This week’s Torah portion, Beha’alotecha (Numbers 8:1-12:16) opens with a simple but powerful image: Aaron is instructed to kindle the lamps of the menorah so that they shine forward. The Torah could…

Read More

There is something almost disorienting about returning to the regular rhythm of Torah after moments of upheaval. This week, as we read Naso (Numbers 4:21-7:89), many of us carry a quiet exhaustion.…

Read More

This Shabbat presents us with an unusual moment in the Jewish calendar. There is no regular Torah portion this week because, in much of the Jewish world, Shavuot is still being observed…

Read More

As we gather at this season of transitions and thresholds, we stand in a remarkable convergence of moments: Graduation, Yom Yerushalayim, beginning the fourth book of the Torah, Bemidbar (Numbers), and the approach…

Read More

There’ is a mystical teaching from the Zohar (collection of writings) that there is a gentle thread that runs through this season of the Jewish year. This is a thread…

Read More