1 Tammuz 5781

June 11, 2021 After weathering the challenge mounted by Korach in this week’s Torah named after him, Korach (Numbers 16:1-18:32), the tribe of Levi assumes its proper status as the…

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24 Sivan 5781

June 4, 2021 The story of the spies in this week’s Torah portion, Shelach-L’cha (Numbers 13:1-15:41), ends in a 40-year march through the Wilderness so that the generation of the…

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17 Sivan 5781

May 28, 2021 2021 has been a heck of a year so far and we are feeling more and more hopeful as people get vaccinated. At the same time, we…

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10 Sivan 5781

May 21, 2021 This past weekend (which feels like eons ago) I experienced the most incredible spiritual whiplash. We celebrated Shavuot, a holiday dedicated to the giving of Torah, of…

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3 Sivan 5781

May 14, 2021 According to the Torah, we are just now, with this week’s Torah portion at the beginning of the Book of Numbers, entering Bamidbar/the wilderness (Numbers 1:1 –…

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11 Iyar 5781

April 23, 2021 I learned this joke many years ago as I was studying the nuances of the Yiddish language: Russian dictator, Joseph Stalin, had just died and the communist…

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4 Iyar 5781

April 16, 2021 This week’s double Torah reading of Tazria and Metzorah (Leviticus 12:1-15:33) run high on the “least favorite portions of the year” list. They talk in detail about…

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27 Nisan 5781

April 9, 2021 Our Torah reading this week contains one of the most infamous stories in the Torah, the tragic deaths of Nadav and Avihu in Parashat Shemini (Leviticus 9:1-11:47).…

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20 Nisan 5781

April 2, 2021 This Shabbat, we celebrate the end of Passover as well as remember our loved ones with Yizkor tomorrow morning. One of the texts we read at the…

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