Today is April 26, 2024 /
Today is April 26, 2024 /
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This week’s d’var Torah on Ki Tissa and Reproductive Justice. A few weeks ago, our community observed #ReproShabbat, an initiative of the National Council of Jewish Women. #Repro Shabbat is observed on the week we read Mishpatim, a Torah portion that briefly addresses the personhood of a fetus. But given the mounting legal challenges to Roe Continue Reading »
This week’s drash in honor of Jewish Women International’s Healthy Relationships Shabbat. Consider using JWI’s Family Conversation Cards as a jumping-off point to talk about healthy relationships. I saw a fantastic meme the other day: “When I say I want a biblical wife… What people think I mean: I want a wife who is passive and Continue Reading »
This week’s d’var Torah on parshat Bo. With gratitude to my chevruta Rabbi Rebecca Reice who drew my attention to these texts. Our life as a free people begins in the middle of the night. In parashat Bo, Moses receives instructions on how to observe the first Pesach, just as the Israelites are poised to Continue Reading »
December 24, 2021 Murmuration and Transformation: The Power of a Swarm This week’s d’var Torah on parashat Shemot. This week, I had the opportunity to study with Rabbi Adina Allen at the Jewish Studio Project. She called our attention to the Hebrew word sheretz, which means “swarm.” In this week’s parasha, Shemot, the new Pharaoh in Egypt uses sheretz to describe Continue Reading »
December 3, 2021 The Miracle of Showing Up This week’s d’var Torah on parashat Miketz, Taanit 11a, and celebrating Hanukkah in difficult times. One of the occupational hazards of the rabbinate is that sometimes a piece of text chases you down and makes you preach about it, or, as Rashi says, it calls out Darsheini, “Interpret Continue Reading »
November 26, 2021 “Twenty Minutes a Pound” This week’s sermon on parshat Vayeshev. Last week, our student choir sang a song about Rabbi Ben Bag Bag, who, in addition to having a “double name-name” is known for saying about the Torah, “Turn it, and turn it, and turn it again, for everything is in it” Continue Reading »
October 29, 2021 This week’s d’var Torah on Chayei Sarah. Halloween is not a Jewish holiday. In some ways, it is the opposite of a Jewish holiday. When we dress up in costumes and go door to door (on Purim), it’s for the purpose of sharing food with others, not demanding sweets for ourselves. Nevertheless, Continue Reading »
October 22, 2021 This week’s d’var Torah on Parashat Vayera and Reproductive Justice. This week’s Torah portion, Vayera, is brimming with complex moral questions. Abraham and God argue over whether God should destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorroh, even through there might be a few righteous people living there. Abraham passes his wife Sarah off Continue Reading »
As a child of the 80s, almost every movie I watched growing up was part of a trilogy: Indiana Jones, The Karate Kid and of course, Star Wars (there were only three back then). So when one of my seminary professors asked us to select a modern film and analyze its theological messages, I said, Continue Reading »
Y’all know I love a weird Talmudic story, especially when it speaks to our current situation. So as I started to prepare for the High Holy Days, thinking we would be just about “back to normal,” I sought out a story about coming out of quarantine. I found a passage about two rabbis who lived Continue Reading »