Parashat Naso (Numbers 4:21−7:89) By Rabbi Avi Killip | May 14, 2021 What holy work can be done through the use of technology, and what must be done in person or by hand? This is the question being asked today in every prayer community. These questions can feel mundane and perhaps even trivial. We want to focus our energy on creating powerful, emotional moments of prayer and connection. The logistical questions feel like they drag us down. But they are not... Read more
Parshat Bamidbar (Numbers 1:1–4:20) By Tyler Dratch | May 10, 2021 We are approaching the holiday of Shavuot, yet another Jewish festival in which we work hard to find our way, amongst the limits of our current world. So much of Jewish life these last many months has felt like wandering in a desert. We wish to journey forward, but there is no road showing us the correct way. We move in one direction, and then, with new health data or technical difficulties,... Read more
Behar-Bechukotai (Leviticus 25:1–27:34) By Matthew Schultz | May 03, 2021 The second verse of the Shema comes from the book of Deuteronomy. Recited twice daily by Jews around the world, it consists of two “if/then” propositions: If you follow God’s commandments, then you will be rewarded with ample rains and the bounty of the land. If you stray, then the land will falter, and you will be exiled from it. This, at least, is the traditional understanding of the text. There... Read more
Lag BaOmer By Rabbi Ebn Leader April 28, 2021 On Thursday night (April 29) we will count and celebrate the 33rd day of the Omer. The Omer has a consistent rhythm to it—count seven days seven times, one after another, and they will lead you to the climax of the 50th day, standing at the foot of Mount Sinai. Marking the 33rd day feels like a strange break in that rhythm. It is not on the beat of seven, nor is... Read more
Emor (Leviticus 21:1–24:23) By Joshua Jacobson | April 28, 2021 In this week’s Torah portion of Emor we find the second reference to what many people think of as a sacred object called in Hebrew ner tamid, often translated into English as “eternal light.” When Jews hear these two words, we often think of the lamp—often a decorative lamp—by the same name hanging by the eastern wall in synagogue sanctuaries throughout the world. This light is perpetually lit, symbolizing God’s eternal presence. But that is... Read more
Acharei-Kedoshim (Leviticus 16:1–20:27) By Naomi Gurt Lind | April 21, 2021 What do we do when calamity has struck? Where do we go next? For us as individuals, and for society as a whole, these are not idle questions. The past year has wrought personal, communal, and national tragedy such as many of us have not seen in our lifetimes, such as none of us hope ever to see again. While the pandemic raged, injustices long simmering just below the surface... Read more
Parashat Tazria-Metzora (Leviticus 12:1–15:33) By Rabbi Avi Strausberg | April 10, 2021 This past year has been a reckoning with isolation. As a result of the pandemic, many of us have been cut off from friends and family and forced, at worst, to go it alone, and at best to band together with a small group of family and friends until we are able to re-emerge on the other side of this. We have had to celebrate joys, mourn sadness, and struggle... Read more
Leviticus 9:1-11:47 By Leah Carnow | Apr 05, 2021 There is a story told in Avot D’Rabbi Natan that when the son of Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai dies, his students come to comfort him. One by one, each of the students bring up a figure from the Torah who has also experienced the loss of a child. And each time, Yohanan ben Zakkai responds exactly the same way, saying: “Isn’t it enough that I have my own pain, and now you’re reminding me of their... Read more
Passover By Rabbi Jordan Braunig | April 1, 2021 This past weekend, we celebrated our second quarantine Pesach. Two years running with just the five us around the Seder table (each time, a strange mix of sad and sweet). We let our little ones know that in the absence of guests they would have to ask even more questions, to lengthen the telling of the story, to luxuriate in the customs of the night. Yet, a little more than three hours... Read more
Parashat Tzav (Leviticus 6:1-8:36) By Rabbi Minna Bromberg | Mar 24, 2021 I was listening to a Jewish podcast the other day on which the hosts were doing a segment about different kinds of food. Toward the end of the segment, I realized that I had spent the entire 20 minutes bracing myself for the invasion of diet culture into their conversation. The invasion never came. There was exactly zero moralizing about the foods they were discussing. None of them had... Read more
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