Published by The Forward, Nov. 22, 2016 Thanksgiving is the most Jewish of American holidays. It recalls the Torah’s instruction that “when you have eaten your fill, give thanks to the Lord your God for the good land which God has given you” (Deut. 8:10). Thanksgiving calls on Americans not to hoard the earth’s bounty,…
I Will Fear No Evil: VaYera 5777
Fear is the sharpest of two-edged swords. In psychological terms, it triggers the fight or flight response, either clarifying the mind to organize effective action, or causing a person to flee or even freeze in place. In Judaism fear is likewise a nuanced phenomenon. It is often viewed negatively as a trait that can lead…
Moving the Matriarchs from Objects to Subjects: Lekh Lekha 5777
How dashing and heroic does Abram appear in his devotion to God! With alacrity he relocates upon command, risks everything to rescue his captive nephew Lot, and circumcises himself and all of his household males at the end of the portion. Yet there is also a moment in which Abram appears craven and insensitive, namely…
A Tale of Two Dystopias: Noah 5777
Does it feel lately that the fate of the world is at stake? If so, the Torah seems intent to validate and deepen our concern. Here we are just days before one of the most disconcerting elections in American history, and we have also arrived at Parashat Noah, the original dystopian tale. In fact, our…
Only One Immortality at a Time: Bereshit 5777
You know what demands keen knowledge? Naming things. The ability to observe and identify one’s environment is no small task, and yet Adam is capable of naming every animal, even before eating from the tree of knowledge. The Torah seems intent on clarifying that it was not knowledge in general that God sought to keep…
Building it is Better than Being Inside: Sukkot 5777
Sunday was a day of frenzied construction for my friends and me on a farm in upstate NY. Thirty-two of us were gathering to celebrate the first days of Sukkot together, but that meant intense activity among the early arrivals to build and decorate our Sukkah. Ours is a rustic project—no metal, plastic or even…
Do You Wear Tefillin on Hol HaMo’ed? Sukkot 5777
Given the great quantity and complexity of halakhot leading up to the festivals of Pesah and Sukkot, we seldom focus on the question of whether to wear Tefillin during the middle days of hol hamo’ed until it is actually upon us. The observant Jewish community is literally all over the map on this subject,…
Open the Gates of Mercy: Yom Kippur 5777
לשנה הבאה בירושלים Next year in Jerusalem! This enthusiastic declaration concludes the most important home ritual in Judaism, the Passover Seder. After hours filled with scripture, songs and symbolic foods designed to reenact the passage from slavery to freedom, we end with the prayer that next year we will celebrate in Jerusalem. The same declaration…
We Have Sacrificed Nothing: Rosh HaShanah 5777 Day 2
“You have sacrificed nothing, and no one!” This powerful statement came from Khizr Khan, a patriotic American immigrant from Pakistan who reveres the US Constitution, and who with his wife stood up in a national forum as grieving parents whose 27-year old son Captain Humayun Khan was killed in action in Iraq defending his unit….
Practicing Judaism: Rosh Hashanah 5777 Day 1
When I was a kid we had a set of toys from my father that was pretty special, because my dad was pretty special, and still is. As a physician who trained in the sixties, he had one of those old-time doctor’s bags at home and he let us play with the tools. There…
Returning from Exile, Accompanied by the Divine: Nitzavim 5777
Chapter 30 of Deuteronomy returns to themes explored back in Chapter 4—alienation from God, exile, and then return. Exile as presented here is both physical and spiritual in nature. This passage reflects a period after the northern kingdom of Israel had already fallen, and the southern kingdom was imperiled (though Ramban voices the traditional view…
A New Meat to Eat? Re’eh 5776
All summer I have been thinking about meat. No, it is not just the smell of BBQ, but it has been my research project to investigate the status of cultured meat for the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards. I have almost completed the first draft of this responsum, though it seems that each day…
Rabbi Danny Nevins 