Rabbi Shabbat Greetings

Much like COVID, pandemics throughout history, from the Black Death to the 1918 influenza outbreak to HIV/AIDS, all have exposed deep fissures within our society. Plagues magnify issues of economic…

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This week’s Torah portion, Tazria (Leviticus 12:1-13:59) discusses tzara’at, a skin disease understood in rabbinic tradition as punishment for lashon hara, evil speech. The public retribution is that the afflicted person suffers so…

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This Shabbat, we are excited to welcome Naomi Less into our community as a guest of the Alan J Malinger Rock Shabbat program. My dad died over 4 1/2 years…

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In this week’s Torah portion, Tzav (Leviticus 6:1-8:36), we read that of all the sacrifices, why must the one that offers gratitude be eaten that day? Why no leftovers? Why…

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This week we begin the third book of the Torah, Leviticus, the portion also known as Vayikra (Leviticus 1:1- 5:26). The book begins with God calling to Moses after the…

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When I had the opportunity to travel and noticed construction going on, sometimes it’s hard to tell: is the building going up or is it coming down? Are the workers involved…

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Over the last few weeks, we have been reading weekly Torah portions outlining the plan for the construction of the Mishkan (Tabernacle) – the temporary Ark that accompanied the Children…

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This week’s Torah portion, Ki Tisa (Exodus 30:11-34:35), is famous for the Golden Calf incident. On this day, many centuries ago, women said no, and men didn’t listen. Thy men…

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Is it permissible to interrupt someone?  According to an article by Kira Bindrim in 2017 in the online magazine, Quartz, “There are times when it’s okay to interrupt someone.  If…

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Recently, I spoke with a member of our Temple Shalom family on the phone who said to me something so interesting. She said, “Rabbi, I’ve rearranged the furniture in my…

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