A few months ago my father, Michael Nevins, was invited to participate in a commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Białystok Ghetto uprising on August 16, 1943. This would be his fourth trip to Poland, and for the occasion, he invited his seven grandchildren to come. In the end five were able to go—Andrea…
Author: Rabbi Danny Nevins
Eleh Ezkerah: Stepping in and out of the Shadows
Eleh Ezkerah for Minyan Maat Yom Kippur 5784 / September 25, 2023 These I recall and my soul melts with sorrow; for the bitter course of our history, tears pour from my eyes. The pages of Eleh Ezkarah contain a portrait of Jewish suffering over the course of two millennia, from the martyrdom of ten…
Questions of Life and Legacy: VaYehi 2017
This final parashah of Genesis bears a cryptic title: Vayehi, “He (that is, Jacob) lived.” Well, of course he lived, and soon he will die, but how has he lived? What legacy does he bequeath? These are the questions that concern Vayehi. What is the Torah’s final judgment of Jacob, a man who has wrestled, mourned and rejoiced,…
Freewill from Forbidden Fruit: Bereshit 5782
Who wouldn’t want to eat a fruit that makes them smarter? In Chapter 2 of Genesis, God places Adam in the Garden of Eden and invites the first people to taste any fruit in the garden, except for the fruit of one tree: The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Why not? A disturbing…
Humility from Heaven: Pinhas 5781
“And there shall be a sin offering for the Lord” (Numbers 28:15). Did God commit a sin? What? When? We know all about the sin of Adam and Eve, but God is perfect, right? Indeed, the Torah does describe God in Deuteronomy 32:4 as “The Rock, the Perfect One…whose ways are just..who is never false,…
A Better Way to Pay Restitution: Naso 5781
Many years ago my car was stolen from its spot outside our apartment in Michigan. In the middle of the night a police officer woke us up and informed me that someone had been pulled over while driving it with a smashed window down Northwestern Highway—had I by chance lent it to them? I had…
Stand up straight? Behar-Behukotai 5781
Just before the Torah switches from blessing to rebuke in our second portion, Behukotai, God reminds the people that they were removed and liberated from Egyptian servitude in order to walk upright, and without restraint (Levit. 13:13). The word for “upright” קוֹמְמִיּוּת is unusual and ambiguous. As Rashi comments, it means “standing straight,” which is…
The Palace of Torah Expanded: Aharei Mot-Kedoshim 5781
For many modern readers, engaging with Torah presents a paradox. Biblical and rabbinic voices reaching us from the distant past are like starlight emitted millennia ago—brilliant and often shockingly current, but also artifacts from light sources that may have dimmed or even expired. This paradox can be constructive, drawing modern readers out of our own…
Feel the Love this Pesah: Shabbat HaGadol 5781
What’s love got to do with it? We are accustomed to thinking of Passover as the festival of freedom, of liberation from enslavement, the march from Mitzrayim to Sinai, and on to the Land of Israel and national independence. The themes of Passover are those of justice, moral purpose, resilience and strength. Its foods symbolize…
Confessions of Joy: Vayikra 5781
The Hebrew word “semikhah” in various forms alludes to drawing close, leaning into or supporting another, or laying on of hands. In that purposeful contact there is a transfer of energy and the establishment of connection between two living beings. When Moses lays hands on Joshua, he confers spiritual power, ordaining Joshua as his successor….
The Festival of Education: Shabbat HaHodesh 5781
Passover is sometimes called “the festival of education” (חג החינוך). I have been unable to find this expression in pre-modern sources, but it accords with classic rabbinic approaches to the holiday. For our sages the art of pedagogy includes multi-sensory inputs of sight, sound, touch and taste, as well as differentiated instruction for various learning…
Rabbi Danny Nevins 