Parashat Vayeishev (Genesis 37:1–40:23) By Rabbi Minna Bromberg | December 8, 2020 My Moroccan-Israeli obstetrician here in Jerusalem was somewhat taken aback by my sudden and adamant refusal to schedule my Cesarean birth for the day that looked best to her: December 25. I realized that she didn’t have the time and I didn’t have the energy to explain my Jewish-American objection to the date as my baby’s birthday. So I simply asked if we could push it off one more day.... Read more
Parshat Vayishlach (Genesis 32:4 – 36:43). By Rabbi Avi Killip | December 2, 2020 Weekly Torah reading offers us the opportunity to read our sacred texts against the backdrop of our lives. The ritual allows each parsha to collect new meanings and associations drawn from the ever-changing events of the world around us. These new understandings come back to us again and again through each year’s encounter with that same parsha. Like a snowball that grows, the stories become richer and deeper with each passing year.... Read more
Parashat Vayetzei (Genesis 28:10–32:3) By Rabbi Jordan Braunig | November 25, 2020 I think we can all agree that 2020 has messed with us in ways large and small. One of the most vexing and persistent of the non-catastrophic events of this past year is the change in our sleep patterns. Insomnia, it seems, is just one more symptom of these anxious times. Between COVID and a seemingly- endless election cycle, many of us have found the sweet refuge of sleep a... Read more
Parashat Toledot (Genesis 25:19-28:9) By Rabbi Arthur Green The narratives of Genesis, especially in readings for Va-Yera and Toledot, are an interweaving of two sets of tales. The better-known ones are the stories of our patriarchal family: the birth of sons and the conflicts between them, first Isaac and Ishmael, then Jacob and Esau. Alternating with these chapters are accounts of our ancestors’ attempts to live among their neighbors, including repeated conflicts over wives, land, flocks, and wells. Given the terrain of the Land... Read more
Parashat Chayei Sarah (Genesis 23:1-25:18) By Rabbi Shira Shazeer | November 11, 2020 Saturday night, the sun set early, bringing an end to Shabbat and a reminder that we’ve reached the darker portion of the year. And while my kids turned to their Zoom screens to spend the evening playing with their friends, I did something I rarely do. I turned on live television, and watched the speeches given by Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris and President-Elect Joe Biden. It was a historic moment; historic... Read more
Parashat Vayeira (Genesis 18:1-22:24) By Rabbi Ebn Leader | November 4, 2020 “And they made a covenant at Be’er Sheva, and Avimelech and Pichol, the chief of his army, departed and returned to the Land of the Philistines. Then Avraham planted a tree (Tamarisk) in Be’er Sheva, and called out, and proclaimed and invoked the name—YHVH, the eternal God of the World” (Genesis, 21:32-33) As I write, the morning following the elections, it is not yet known who the next president of... Read more
Parashat Lech-Lecha (Genesis 12:1 – 17:27) By Rabbi Adina Allen | Oct 26, 2020 Among the most quintessential stories in Jewish tradition is that of God’s call to Abraham: “Lech l’cha,” “go forth — from your land, from your birthplace, from your parent’s house to the land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1). With this call, Abraham is asked to leave behind the place where he is from, what he knows, and who he has been up until this point in his life... Read more
Parashat Noach (Genesis 6:9-11:32) By Rabbi Becky SIlverstein | Oct 20, 2020 From the floor on which I sit stacking blocks one on top of the other, I have a clear view of our bookshelves. I can see the complete Talmud set that my spouse bought me as a wedding present, a collection of bell hooks’ works that I’ve only barely begun to dig into, sets of Midrash Rabbah and Netivot Shalom with beautiful bindings, and a stack of Octavia Butler. Out of the corner of... Read more
Parashat Bereishit (Genesis 1:1-6:8) By Tom Reid | Oct 08, 2020 It is an interesting time to be thinking about beginnings. Allegedly, we are in the month of October (but did we ever actually make it through March?!). As we continue to grapple with the intersecting pandemics of COVID-19, systemic racism (what some are calling COVID-1619), wildfires, and economic devastation, it is very difficult to mark beginnings and endings. A friend and former classmate of mine, McKenna Lewellen, offered a powerful description... Read more
Shemini Atzeret By Rabbi Daniel Berman | October 07, 2020 Eight years ago I wrote a short d’var Torah for Shmini Atzeret. The topic was rain. Highlighting the theme that we’re not quite as powerful as we think, which is at the center of Sukkot and Kohelet, I wrote, “when it rains, it rains, and when there’s sun, there’s sun, and, for the most part, there’s not a thing in the world we can do to change that.” My wife, Sarah, an... Read more
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