Devarim – 5780   Deuteronomy 1:1 – 3:22 George Bernard Shaw once quipped: “For those who can’t do, teach.” Since the moment he first uttered these words (if not earlier), many westerners have judged teachers as those who failed to succeed at their chosen professions – as if teaching itself was not a noble and […]

Mattot/Masei – 5780 Numbers 30:2 – 36:13 The moment had arrived. Assembled near the Eastern bank of the Jordan river, their forty years of wandering almost complete, our ancestors began preparations to finally enter and settle the Promised Land. What a surprise it must have been for Moses when a delegation from Reuben and Gad, […]

Pinchas – 5780   Numbers 25:10 – 30:1 This week’s Torah portion has a lot of anger. That is, as Rabbi Pamela Wax teaches (1), five different expressions and types of anger are woven into the parasha, and in essence, serve as a unifying theme. Here are just three: The portion opens with a murder, […]

Chukkat/Balak -5780 (for our new and departing board members) Numbers 19:1 – 25:9 Let’s talk about miracles. When we think about miracles, we tend to think of God, but in Chukkat, it is Moses who performs the miracle. Here is the story: Miriam (Moses’ sister) was a water diviner, and for close to forty years […]

Korach – 5780 Numbers 16:1 – 18:32 Torah teaches us to speak truth to power, to challenge authority for the sake of a greater good. Contrary to so many other ancient traditions, which equated disagreement with disloyalty, and often punished it with death, both Abraham and Moses are able to successfully challenge God. Even more, […]

Shelach Lecha – 5780 Numbers 13:1 – 15:41 In Shelach Lecha God tells Moses to send twelve scouts to the Promised Land, so that they can bring back a report. The scouts return and say that the land is rich with “milk and honey,” but ten of the twelve go on to say that it […]