Today is September 23, 2023 /
Today is September 23, 2023 /
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This week’s d’var Torah on parashat Vayera and the meaning of laughter. With gratitude to Rabbi Adam Lavitt for his teaching on ednah in this week’s Creative Commentary Class for the Jewish Studio Project. וַתִּצְחַ֥ק שָׂרָ֖ה בְּקִרְבָּ֣הּ לֵאמֹ֑ר אַחֲרֵ֤י בְלֹתִי֙ הָֽיְתָה־לִּ֣י עֶדְנָ֔ה וַֽאדֹנִ֖י זָקֵֽן׃ And Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “Now that I am withered, am I to Continue Reading »
This week’s d’var Torah on Bereishit, the commandment to rest, and Tricia Hersey’s new book Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto. I spend a lot more time on social media than is probably healthy or productive. I’ve had to put up all sorts of technological barriers and guardrails to keep me from “doomscrolling” all the Continue Reading »
Engraved on the base of the Statue of Liberty are the words of the Jewish poet Emma Lazarus: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” These were Continue Reading »
This past year, I participated in a fellowship with clergy and educators across the denominations of Judaism. We had the opportunity to study with Rabbi Yitz Greenberg, an Orthodox theologian and a longtime proponent of Jewish pluralism. Although we might have very different perspectives on Jewish law, his writing has deeply influenced my own thinking Continue Reading »
“There is no law without story.” This was Rabbi Aviva Richman’s refrain during the Hadar Institute’s two-day conversation about Jewish perspectives on abortion. This is how she explained why, in addition to traditional and contemporary rabbinic rulings, this conversation included the voices of modern scholars and health-care professionals, those who had struggled with infertility and Continue Reading »
As I first began to conceive of my High Holy Day sermons, my family was eagerly anticipating the birth of my nephew. On erev Tisha B’Av, about four days before his due date, I casually texted my brother and sister-in-law, saying, “No pressure, but according to the Jewish tradition, if the baby is born before Continue Reading »
This week’s d’var Torah on Ki Tavo. On a conference call with other small congregation rabbis earlier this week, a colleague was lamenting that their congregants just weren’t coming back to services in person, and it was disheartening to see all the empty chairs. I, personally, am learning to rejoice just as much in Continue Reading »
This week’s d’var Torah on parashat Re’eh and student loan forgiveness. I still remember the name of the woman who processed my final student loan payment over the phone. It was Kaffeine. With a K. Bless her. Though my rabbinical school tuition was heavily subsidized (that’s one place our URJ dues go), it still Continue Reading »
This week’s d’var Torah on B’haalotecha and lifting up marginalized voices. I know that social media gets a bad rap, but every once in a while, something amazing happens on Twitter. This might be because my feed is a carefully curated Venn diagram of activists, progressive clergy, writers and librarians. This week, writers, book lovers, Continue Reading »
This week’s d’var Torah on parashat Behukotai and gun violence. Image Created by Rabbi Deborah Bodin Cohen The wisest thing I ever heard a clergy person say was after the sudden death a 19-year-old girl. Amy had gone to high school with me and my younger brother, and most of our community crowded into St. Continue Reading »