11 Av 5780
July 31, 2020 One of the more fascinating narratives in the Torah is the one surrounding the fate of Moses and his passionate effort to gain entry into the Promised…
4 Av 5780
July 24,2020 Concerned parents often ask me: What does Judaism say about education for those who need more help in learning? For thousands of years, Judaism has been very clear…
26 Tammuz 5780
July 17, 2020 This week we read the final double portion in the Book of Numbers – Matot -Masei (Numbers 30:2-36:13). During the later part of Numbers we read about a lot…
5 Tammuz 5780
June 26, 2020 The rebellion of Korach and his allies is recounted in this week’s Torah reading (Numbers 16:1-18:32). The story is fantastical in its depiction of the miraculous way that the…
21 Sivan 5780
June 12, 2020 This week’s Shabbat greetings is a combined influence of the words of Rabbi Bonnie of Temple Chai of Phoenix, AZ and the Rev. John Armstrong of New…
14 Sivan 5780
June 5, 2020 Last week, I explained why we have split up the Torah portion, Naso (Numbers 6:1-7:89) into two parts. This week’s second part includes the famous Birkat HaKohanim – the Priestly…
7 Sivan 5780
May 29, 2020 The first part of the portion of Parshat Naso (Numbers 4:21-5:31) (divided into two weeks when Shavuot occurs on Shabbat so that we can stay in sync with Diaspora…
29 Iyar 5780
May 22, 2020 This portion that begins the Book of Numbers, Bamidbar (Numbers 1:1-4:20) is generally read on the Shabbat before the festival of Shavuot – z’man matan torateinu – “the time of the…
22 Iyar 5780
May 15, 2020 The book of Leviticus concludes on this Shabbat in a double portion, Behar-Bechukotai (Leviticus 25:1-27:34) by outlining the blessings that will follow if the people are faithful to their…