When will it finally rain? The weather for the past month in the UK has been gorgeous–sunny and dry, but this is too much of a good thing. Hosepipe bans have been imposed to conserve water, lawns and gardens are turning tan, and flowers are fading. According to the Fire Severity Index, much of England…
Category: 5 Deuteronomy דברים
Stuttering Sacred Speech: Devarim 5786
Learning to speak is one of the most mysterious, impactful and, for some, challenging of human capacities. To witness a toddler produce their first recognisable words often seems like a miracle. Language is a defining quality of the human experience, but it is not universally shared. Communication disorders come in many varieties and can have…
Three Readings of the Third Commandment: Yitro 5786
The third commandment seems simple enough: לֹא תִשָּׂא אֶת־שֵׁם־ה׳ אֱלֹקיךָ לַשָּׁוְא, כִּי לֹא יְנַקֶּה ה׳ אֵת אֲשֶׁר־יִשָּׂא אֶת־שְׁמוֹ לַשָּׁוְא׃ Translated literally it means, “Do not take up the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not clear one who takes God’s name in vain.” Sounds simple, but if we look…
Resurrecting Resurrection: Vayeilekh/Shuvah 5786
The Torah itself is the mechanism of reviving the dead. When we teach their Torah, then we experience their presence. Moses is in the room with us today, and so too are all of our teachers who have left us in body, but conveyed their messages to guide us in life.
Ki Teitzei 5784: The Extended Effects of Captivity
Danny Nevins, Ansche Chesed, Minyan Maat Shabbat Ki Teitzei 5784 /September 14, 2024 During the 330 days that her son Hersh was held captive, Rachel Goldberg-Polin made dozens of speeches that moved people across the world. From the UN to the Vatican to the DNC, she spoke as a mother in agony, an activist demanding…
By Consent of the High Court: Yom Kippur 5781
Kol Nidre begins with a dramatic declaration, “by consent of the court on high, and by consent of the court below, we permit prayer with transgressors.” This formula is attested already in the circle of Rabbi Meir of Rotenberg (Germany, 13C) as reported by his student Samson b. Tzadok (Tashbetz Katan 131), and then in…
The Gates of Tears: Nitzavim VaYelekh 5780
A student touched me deeply today when I opened our Zoom meeting and found them weeping. “Why are you crying?” I asked. They said, “How can I stand before my community and lead them in prayer when such terrible things are happening? How can I pray for blessing when things are so wrong?” How indeed?…
Covenantal Judaism: Ki Tavo 5780
About fifteen years ago Rabbi David Wolpe suggested that Conservative Judaism be rebranded as Covenantal Judaism. I felt this to be an attractive solution to our brand challenge. Wolpe spoke of the covenant on numerous levels—a theological covenant between Jews and God, a national covenant between Jews and each other, and an ethical covenant between…
Who’s a False Witness? Shoftim 5780
Honesty is the bedrock of justice. Legal proceedings to determine innocence or guilt, obligation or exemption, depend on honest and truthful testimony. For this reason, the Decalogue includes the prohibition of false testimony among its list of severe social crimes, beside murder and theft (Exod. 20 and Deut. 5). In Parshat Shoftim we learn that…
Time to Weep, Time to Dance: Sukkot 5780
Enough with all this happiness! The Torah commands, and we dutifully sing, “rejoice on your festival… and be entirely happy” (Deut. 16: 14, 15). The Rabbis explain the original form of rejoicing to be the consumption of the “happy sacrifice” (קרבן שמחה) during Temple times; thereafter everyone should rejoice in their own way—by drinking wine,…
The Pupil of God’s Eye: YK-Ha’azinu 5780
The practice of hagba’ah, the lifting of the Torah scroll, is always dramatic, but especially when one can see unusual features of the scroll from a distance. This is the case with the poem Ha’azinu (Deut. 32: 1-42), which is presented as two narrow columns of parallel verse in phrases of three or four words….
Standing Together: Nitzavim 5779
One of the greatest privileges and responsibilities of a rabbi is to train candidates for conversion to Judaism. Such people are often spiritual seekers, and their questions challenge teachers whose Jewish identity and practice are well established. Why do you do this? What do you believe? What does this text mean? Will this practice make…