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?…
Category: Tisha B’Av
Complicity and Conscience: Rosh Hodesh Tammuz 5780
The Torah says that Caleb ben Yifuneh was blessed with “a different spirit,” and that this differentiation allowed him alone to survive the curse of death in the desert. At Numbers 14:23, God tells Moses that the entire generation that had witnessed divine miracles in Egypt and the desert but had nevertheless acted testily ten…
A Nuanced View of Comfort: Hazon 5779
Shabbat Hazon is one of only three Shabbatot known primarily for its haftarah—the others being Nahamu next week and Shuvah during the ten days. Our haftarah from Isaiah 1 culminates the three weeks of admonition (תלתא דפורענותא) and sets the stage for tonight’s reading of Eikhah. To understand this transition and its contemporary significance we…
Faith and Heartbreak in Israel: VaEthanan 5778
Our Torah portion this week is suffused with yearning—Moses yearns for the opportunity to arrive in the Land, knowing full well that this dream has already been denied him. And Moses yearns for his people to live up to their potential, creating a civilization that will be universally admired for its righteous laws. He imagines…
Rabbi Danny Nevins 