Terumah Ex. 25:1 – 27:19  Rabbi Baht Weiss  There’s a verse we read this week in Parshat Terumah that says,                      “Ve’asu li mikdash veshachanti  betocham,”            “Build for Me a Sanctuary that I may dwell among them.” (Exod. 25:8)                  This reminds me of the line “If you build it, they will come,” from the movie […]

Mishpatim Ex. 21:1 – 24:18  Rabbi Gary Pokras   “You shall neither deceive a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Ex. 22:20)  Two weeks ago, in our exploration of parashat BeShallach, we highlighted the central importance of our origin as slaves in Egypt. Our history of oppression helps us […]

Yitro Ex. 18:1 – 20:23  Rabbi Baht Weiss   Parshat Yitro is named after Moses’ father-in-law, Yitro in Hebrew, Jethro in English.  The beginning of the Torah portion tells us that Yitro is a Midian priest, not a Jew.  It acknowledges that Moses’ wife Tziporah is of non-Jewish descent.  Moses and Tziporah’s two children are Gershom, […]

BeShallach (Shabbat Shira) Ex. 13:17 – 17:16  Rabbi Gary Pokras  My father has a theory about Judaism; he says that it is impossible to observe a Jewish holy day without food. As a kid I said, “Oh yeah? What about Yom Kippur?” He smiled and answered my question with a few of his own: “What […]

Bo Ex. 10:1 – 13:16 By Rabbi Baht Weiss In the prior Torah portion, Vaera, Moses has come before Pharaoh seven times asking him to free the Hebrew people from slavery. And each time Pharaoh’s heart is hardened, he is stubborn, and refuses to budge.   God brings ferocious plagues to convince Pharaoh to change his […]

VaEra Ex. 6:2 – 9:35  Rabbi Gary Pokras  Every spiritual tradition has a primary narrative, a story that defines what it stands for, and how and why it came into being. Ours is this: we were slaves in Egypt, then God redeemed us with a mighty and outstretched hand and gave us laws (Torah) to […]

Shemot Exodus 1:1-6:1  Rabbi Baht Yameem Weiss  This week we begin the book of Exodus, Shemot. It is the story that made us a unified people.  In this week’s parsha, we meet Moses, who is called the greatest prophet that the Jewish people ever had.  Moses becomes the leader of the Jewish people even though […]