Leadership Transitions in Our Sacred Texts
What a time to be revisiting our Torah discussion from this past Shabbat, as we do each week. And yet in some ways I think turning to the eternal rhythms of our weekly torah portion, that anchor in our week that steadies us in the most tumultuous of times, is an invigorating exercise, one which […]
Wrestling with… the Messiah?
Happy 2021! May it be a year that lifts our spirits and brings us together. We are returning, after a brief hiatus, to our weekly emailed Divrei Torah (words of Torah) derived from the conversations we hold each week during our Shabbat morning services. (Shabbat morning services start each week at 10 am. Shacharit, the morning prayer service, […]
The Past Hurts
This past Shabbat we studied that ever-troublesome parashah (Torah portion) called Toldot that includes the moment when our ancestor Rebecca overhears that her ailing husband Isaac is preparing to give his final, all-important blessing to the barely-older twin Esau rather than her beloved barely-younger twin Jacob. We read that she quickly takes action: when Isaac instructs Esau to go […]
In Kindness We Trust
This past Shabbat we studied the weekly portion called Hayyei Sarah, meaning “the Life of Sarah,” which begins, notably, with the passing of that foremost matriarch. After her death we encounter a series of episodes in the lives of our ancestors, including Abraham, now a widower, concerned that his and Sarah’s only son, Isaac, is unmarried and […]
Dealing with Uncertainty
This past Shabbat we read that perhaps most famous of all parshiyot (Torah portions): vayera. Vayera means “and he appeared,” referring to the divine presence appearing before our foremost ancestor Abraham, communicating to him and his wife Sarah that they would indeed have a son, their old age notwithstanding. The parsha’s notoriety comes not from this moment alone but rather a few […]