I’m thrilled you are exploring Society Hill Synagogue and have found your way to the page of Divrei Torah, words of Torah, which are part of a generations-long Jewish practice of refracting sacred Jewish teachings through the light of our own day and age.
For me, Judaism is an opportunity to nourish ourselves, grounded in the Jewish story: a story that has unfolded throughout the generations, with twists and turns, tragedy and triumph, serving as a source of life to those who engage with it.
The Jewish People are known as B’nei Yisrael: the people who wrestle with the Divine. The name comes from that moment in our tradition in which it is understood that our ancestor Jacob “wrestled with a figure,” a figure understood to be a manifestation of that very Divine Being (see Genesis 32).
That moment produced a legacy of sacred wrestling; grappling; seeking to make meaning of, and find purpose in, our time on earth.
These Divrei Torah are my efforts, in conversation with the community of Society Hill Synagogue, to make meaning and to find purpose, seeking to serve this community, our broader world, and the Divine.
I hope you find meaning in them yourself, and I encourage you to reach out to me if you would like to discuss their contents or to discuss becoming a part of the Society Hill Synagogue community. Welcome!
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Balancing Humility and Responsibility
In this past week’s Torah portion, Moses relates the experience of the 40-year journey the Israelites have made to the generation of Israelites who stand on the brink of the Promised Land. They are getting ready to enter it without Moses, who will no longer
Chosenness, Conflict, and a Path Forward
This past Shabbat we began the final book of the Torah, Sefer Devarim, the Book of Deuteronomy. The word “Deuteronomy” comes from a Greek translation of the phrase “Repetition of the Torah”, which is in a sense a fitting name for this final Book, because it
Journeys of the Past and Present — Insights from Parashat Masei
This past Shabbat we studied Parashat Masei, which means something like “travels” or “stages”. It is the last portion in the Sefer Bamidbar, the Book of Numbers, the fourth of five books of the Torah. In it, the “travels” being referred to comprise a deliberate
Jewish Wisdom on Character and Leadership Amid Political Change
Yet again, I write in response to unfolding developments in one of the most eventful months in electoral politics in modern American history, with reverberations for the Jewish community, for Israel, and for the world. Never in modern history has a sitting president, eligible for
Navigating the Eternal and Temporal in Jewish Practice
First I want to share a word about how I approach Divrei Torah — this practice of writing reflections based on Jewish text, tradition, and history — differently during the week than for Shabbat. On Shabbat, the emphasis is more on the Eternal: what are
The Power of Hope: A Cornerstone of the Jewish Experience
There’s one part of my previously emailed d’var torah that I kind of want to take back. In it, I shared the truism that “hope is not a strategy” (juxtaposing it to the notion that “neither is despair”). It is true that hope is not
Independence and Responsibility: A 4th of July Message from Rabbi Kamesar
Independence and Responsibility: A 4th of July Message from Rabbi Kamesar I write this on the cusp of the 4th of July, the date commemorating the establishment of the United States of America through the ratification by the Continental Congress of the Declaration of Independence,
Rabbi’s Remarks from our Congregation Annual Meeting
Dear Friends, What follows are the remarks I delivered at this year’s Congregational Annual Meeting, reflecting back on an incredible year of contributions from, and on behalf of, Jewish community in general, and this community in particular. Thank you. What a year it has been.
Balancing Compassion and Critique: A Yom Kippur Perspective on Israel
Dear Friends, I’m sometimes reminded of the adage about Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, that it has the capacity to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted. That is, some of us go through life and are so hard on ourselves; day in, day
The Jewish Story
Dear Friends, I wanted to share just briefly a bit about the mentality I’m holding each week when I write about Israel, Gaza, and the Middle East. I’m Jewish. I’m not breaking any news here when I say that, but I wanted to explicitly name
Making Sense of the World
What follows is the D’var Torah I delivered this past Shabbat on how theology can sometimes help us make sense of the world: Are you there, God? It’s me, Nathan Kamesar. One of the questions I ask week after week, and really moment
Identity, Israel, and Shared Humanity
Dear Friends, Each week I reflect, professionally, on a couple of fronts: for Friday nights, I try to write in a spirit that reflects the spirit of Shabbat—a poetic sensibility angled towards Shabbat as a palace in time, a foretaste of the world to come,
Navigating Adolescence and Jewish Identity
Dear Friends, This past Shabbat we invited students from our 7th through 10th grades of our Hebrew School up to the bimah to lead parts of our Friday night service. (Each grade from 3rd grade and above is asked to lead parts of the Friday
Pesah, Protest, and Poetry
We just got finished celebrating beautiful, if painful, Passover Seders in our homes and in community.
I wanted to begin by sharing the words with which I opened our Seder here at Society Hill Synagogue, with over 150 people across the generations crammed warmly in our social hall:
Jewish Insights on Regret
Would you rather hear an audio recording of Rabbi Nathan Kamesar giving this D’var Torah? Listen here! Sparks of regret. It’s hard to imagine a span of a life not including many of these. A life. How about a year, a month, a week? There