Rabbi Shabbat Greetings

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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This week’s Torah portion, Mishpatim (Exodus 21:1-24:18), contains 53 commandments! One of them is the command to establish ‘Arei Miklat’ – Sanctuary Cities. These cities are for refuge for a…

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Have you heard the one about how Jewish space lasers caused the California wildfires? A joke? Unfortunately, not. A few years ago, we read that Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene in…

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As we read this week’s Torah portion, Beshalach (Exodus 13:17-17:16), just when the Israelites think they have escaped Egypt, their oppressors chase after them. The situation looks grim and impossible…

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I was reading an article written by Rabbi Noah Farkas of San Bernindo, CA who asked the questions: Who are we to each other? What do we have in common…

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We have questioned the business of Pharaoh’s “hardening of the heart” from many different aspects over the years. But there is another entity that we haven’t looked at – the…

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There are a lot of movies that depict the events of this week’s Torah portion, Shemot (Exodus 1:1 – 6:1), so it might be the most famous portion of the entire…

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A major feature of this week’s Torah portion, Vayechi (Genesis 47:28-50:26) is the world’s first recorded Ethical Will, as Jacob approaches the end of his life. For each of his sons,…

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