Rabbi's Message

Shalom from Jerusalem!  Actually, by the time you read this, I will hopefully have landed back home.  It has been a very full three weeks in Israel.  Most of my time was spent in the beit midrash (study hall) at the Hartman Institute discussing texts and ideas about Israel today and Jewish Peoplehood.  If you’d like to get a taste of some of the conversations I’ve had and teachers I’ve learned with, you can check out...Read more...

Shalom from Jerusalem!  It has been an incredible week and a half of learning, listening, and living here.  Most of my time is spent as part of the Rabbinic Leadership Initiative...Read more...

In this week’s Torah portion, Shelah Lekha, twelve spies (meraglim) are sent ahead to scout out the land as the Israelites approach the land of Israel. When they return, ten of the twelve spies return with a discouraging report, and the people believe that it will be too difficult to possess the Promised Land. Only two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, offer a positive report pushing B’nai Yisrael to continue forward.

This...Read more...

We begin the book of B’Midbar, the fourth book of the Torah, this Shabbat.  Those 40 years of wandering the desert you’ve heard about?  Thirty-eight of them happen here.  At the outset, the book sets the stage for the Israelite’s long journey (though they don’t know just yet how long it will be).  It does this by taking a census of the people and arranging the camp.  At the beginning of the second...Read more...

This Shabbat we will read parashat Behar, which begins with the words, “The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai…”  The commentaries wonder: why does the Torah need to reiterate the fact that laws that follow were given on Mount Sinai?   The Israelites haven’t yet moved from the mountain, isn’t it obvious that they are still there?  The 11th-century French commentator Rashi answers this question by explaining that the...Read more...

I attended services at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, this past Sunday.  That’s where 40 of us from TBS began our Civil Rights tour, organized by our Social Advocacy Committee and flawlessly led by Zach and Terri Oppenheimer. 

It is...Read more...

Moadim L’Simha—Happy Passover!  I hope you are having a meaningful holiday and are not yet too sick of all of the matzah! Each year, the days leading up to Passover are filled with hard work, and sometimes even stress.   But I have to admit, and I hope you have the same experience, each year during the seders I find myself looking around the Seder table at family, friends, and loved ones, and thinking to myself: “once again,...Read more...

As Jews around the world prepare for Shabbat, we are also either in the midst of, or making arrangements to remove the hametz (leaven products) from our homes. Though the manual labor can be intense as we prepare our homes and our souls for Passover, it is also particularly important as I believe we are also readying our souls to experience freedom anew.  Yes, the physical cleaning is important (and daunting).  But of equal if not...Read more...

The opening verses of this week’s Torah portion, Tzav, state: “This is the Torah of the burnt-offering… The fire on the altar shall be kept burning, not to go out: the priest shall burn wood upon it each morning, each morning … A perpetual fire shall be kept burning on the altar, not to go out,” (Leviticus 6:1, 4, 6).

Three times in six verses there is a reference to the fire burning on the altar and not going out. What is...Read more...

In this week’s Torah portion, Pekudei, the construction of the Mishkan (the Tabernacle) is finally completed. We then read that Moses “took the Tablets and placed it in the Ark,” (Exodus 40:20). It is interesting to note that the word used for tablets in the verse “edut”...Read more...

Shalom from Israel!  I have been in Israel since Monday and return to Cherry Hill overnight this evening.  It has been a quick but certainly important trip to Israel, probably the most important and impactful time I have ever spent here.  I am grateful to our Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey for planning this solidarity mission and I am grateful to my TBS family, all of you, for supporting my being on the mission and...Read more...

This Saturday is not only Shabbat, but also Rosh Hodesh, as we begin the new month of Adar I. That means that in shul on Saturday morning we will sing Hallel (Psalms and songs of praise) together! One of the lines that we will chant is from Psalm 118 (verse 5): “Min ha-maietzar karati Yah, anani va-merhav Yah—from a narrow place I cried out to God, and God answered me from a place of expansiveness.” Our siddur comments: “the...Read more...

Happy Tu B’Shevat!  Yes, today is the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shevat, which means it is the holiday of Tu B’Shevat.  Tu B’Shevat is the new year, or birthday, of the trees.  Today we celebrate the gift of nature, the beauty of our natural world, and our responsibility to protect it.  Tu B’Shevat can also be understood through the realm of metaphor.  In this light, Tu B’Shevat is not only a perfect...Read more...

Last Shabbat, we began reading the book of Shemot, Exodus.  This second book of the Torah tells the foundational story of our people; the Israelites’ journey from oppression to freedom. How appropriate to continue reading the Book of Exodus this...Read more...

What do we do when we finish a book of the Torah? We rise and call out, “hazak hazak v’nithazek be strong, be strong, and may we strengthen one another.” We will recite this line at shul this Shabbat morning as we conclude the book of Bereshit (Genesis) and prepare to turn to the book of Shemot.  How appropriate that we will say this line specifically on Hazak Shabbat where members Hazak will lead the service. I hope you will join...Read more...