Listening to Trees

Last updated on: September 1, 2022 at 1:06 pm By Hebrew College

Parashat Shoftim (Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9) By Emmanuel Cantor This past summer I made my way through The Overstory, a sweeping work of fiction by Richard Powers. A Pulitzer Prize winner in 2019, the novel weaves together nine stories of Americans fighting the deforestation of the California redwoods. One of them, the plant ecologist Dr. Patricia Westerford, writes the following in her book on the power of trees: “Trees know when we’re close by. The chemistry of their roots and the perfumes their leaves... Read more

Looking for God, Eyes Wide Open

Last updated on: August 23, 2022 at 6:49 pm By Hebrew College

By Chaim Spaulding Parashat Re’eh (Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17) Parashat Re’eh begins with the imperative re’eh (see!), and a choice: the Israelites are presented with bracha u’klala, blessing and curse. Blessing will flow from following God’s commandments; curse will be the consequence for following other gods asher lo y’datem—gods of whom the Israelites have no personal, first-hand knowledge. Over and over in this parashah, woven in among laws on a variety of topics, we are warned not to stray after gods we don’t know. As I encountered these passages,... Read more

But Dust and Ashes We Are

Last updated on: August 17, 2022 at 11:27 am By Hebrew College

By Rabbi Adina Allen Parashat Eikev (Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25) We should each hold two slips of paper in our pockets, a well-known saying in Jewish tradition goes. On one should be written, “The world was created for me,” on the other, “I am but dust and ashes.” Attributed to Reb Simcha Bunem, an 18th century Hasidic rebbe, in its original context this teaching was meant to help us remember, when we feel lowly and depressed, that who we are and what we... Read more

Seeds of Consolation: Open-Eyed Torah for a Friend

Last updated on: August 12, 2022 at 9:25 am By Hebrew College

By Naomi Gurt Lind Parashat Vaetchanan (Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11) For Lea Andersen, of cherished memory Parashat Vaetchanan begins with Moshe deep in his feelings, as he recalls pleading with God to be allowed to enter into the Promised Land. He has devoted his life to his people, has endured hardship and frustration, conquered self-doubt and overwork, only to find that at the end of his life he will not get to see the task come to fruition. In Deuteronomy 3:25, early in the... Read more

Responding to Failure with Perseverance

Last updated on: August 1, 2022 at 10:29 am By Hebrew College

By Rabbi Daniel Klein Parashat Dvarim (Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22) As we begin the Book of Deuteronomy this week, the fifth and final book of the Torah, we greet the Israelites triumphant. After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, they are finally on the threshold of entering the Promised Land. It is an extraordinary moment of accomplishment. And yet, as Moses begins his final, book length soliloquy to prepare the people for their new lives in the Land of Israel, he... Read more

Matot Masei — Meeting God “In the Straits”

Last updated on: July 26, 2022 at 3:39 pm By Hebrew College

By Rabbi Ebn Leader Parashat Matot Masei (Numbers 30:2-36:13) With Parashat Masei—The Journeys—the Torah concludes the story of the Israelite people. While the Torah includes one more book, dedicated almost entirely to the parting words and death of Moshe, the story of the people ends here, in the plains of Moav. The vision of a promised land is central to the biblical story beginning with the narratives of the ancestors in Bereshit. Still, this “allotted haven” (Devarim 12:9) is never reached. (This is true of... Read more

Find Your Semicha

Last updated on: July 26, 2022 at 3:31 pm By Hebrew College

By Rabbi Jessica Kate Meyer Parashat Pinchas (Numbers 25:10-30:1) The transmission and transition of leadership from one generation to the next is ritualized in Parashat Pinchas. Moshe stands Joshua before Elazar, the High Priest, and before the entire male Israelite community. He lays his hands on Joshua in the original act of semicha, symbolically placing leadership on his shoulders. According to the 19th century rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin (known as The Netziv), through this act of semicha, Moshe filled... Read more

Not Looking Away from Our Pain

Last updated on: July 12, 2022 at 3:31 pm By Hebrew College

By Rabbi Tyler Dratch Parashat Balak (Numbers 22:2-25:9) There’s an image that has been floating through my mind these weeks, as I try to reflect on all of the turbulence that continues to inundate our country and our world. It is a picture taken in 2017 at a golf course in Washington State. In the picture, wildfires have set a once lush forest ablaze; fire, smoke, and ashes dominate the background. And in the foreground of the picture, three men... Read more

Keeping Safe and Letting Go

Last updated on: July 7, 2022 at 10:01 am By Hebrew College

By Naomi Gurt Lind Parashat Chukat (Numbers 19:1-22:1) There is nothing like preparing to send your firstborn off to college to get you thinking about legacy and the passage of time. Looking back on the past 18 years, what stays in my mind—more than the cliches of baby’s first steps or first words—are all the things I’ve tried to tuck into my childrens’ souls on the off beats. The summer days we spent looking at bugs and walking to the... Read more

The Blossoming Almond Staff of Aaron

Last updated on: June 28, 2022 at 2:11 pm By Hebrew College

by Rav Dr. Rachel Adelman Parashat Korach (Numbers 16:1 – 18:32) Inspired by Rabbi Giulia Fleishman’s `22 teaching, BeMidbar Spring of ‘20. For Van Gogh, white almond blossom branches set against the blue sky were a favorite subject of painting. In 1890, he made a gift of the famous “Almond Blossom” painting (above) to his brother Theo and his sister-in-law, Jo, who had just had a baby son. They named their son after their brother, Vincent, who later that year... Read more

How many brothers did Joseph have?