People of the Story

Last updated on: March 3, 2025 at 6:59 pm By Hebrew College

Parashat Tetzaveh (Exodus 27:20-30:10) By Adam Zemel Tetzaveh begins when God pauses dictating instructions for the Tabernacle to consecrate Aaron and his four sons — Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar — as priests. The appointment reads like necessary information dispensed to get on with the instructions for the making and fabrication of priestly garments and vestments. Later, Aaron and his sons return to the text for enrobing and anointing, and to conduct the sacrificial slaughters and burnt offerings. Reading these instructions... Read more

The Mishkan and Purim’s Insights for an Uncertain World

Last updated on: February 24, 2025 at 4:09 pm By Hebrew College

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By Rabbi Daniel Klein, Hebrew College Rabbinical School ’10 Parashat Terumah Exdodus 25:1-27:19 As we move through these unfolding uncertain and challenging times, our locations in the annual Torah reading and holiday cycles offer powerful and complementary guidance for how we might respond. With Parashat Terumah this week, we begin a series of parshiyot on the building of the mishkan, the portable tabernacle in the wilderness. It is reasonable to read this section of the Torah as a continuation of... Read more

Do You Need a Reminder?

Last updated on: February 18, 2025 at 12:35 pm By Hebrew College

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Parashat Mishpatim Exodus 21:1-24:18 Recently, I attended a cozy concert by one of my favorite singer-songwriters. Halfway through, the music was interrupted by a distracting buzzing sound. The performer watched us dig through our bags from her perch onstage with amusement. Suddenly, she leapt toward her own bag at the foot of the stage. “Sorry about that,” she explained. “Every night at 10:00 I have an alarm set to remind me ‘Hey – You’re allowed to enjoy life today.’ I... Read more

A Whole People of Whole People

Last updated on: February 11, 2025 at 12:34 pm By Hebrew College

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Parashat Yitro Exodus 18:1-20:23 One of my favorite Yiddish folk songs begins “un mir zaynen ale brider, un mir zingen freylekhe lider (We are all brothers, we sing happy songs”.) Ale Brider is based on the poem Akhdes (Unity) by Morris Winchevsky. Additional lyrics with new expressions of unity have been added over time. “Un mir zaynen ale shvester (We are all sisters.”) Recent lyrics celebrate LGBTQ Jews, and I added a verse a few years ago for online gatherings.... Read more

Armed with Hope

Last updated on: February 3, 2025 at 1:38 pm By Hebrew College

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By Rabbi Max Edwards Parashat Beshalach (Exodus 13:17-17:16) Every year as we sit around the seder table during Passover, we retell our collective story of liberation from Egypt. But the Haggadah is exactly that: a retelling. The Haggadah prioritizes the experience of being redeemed by God. Think of the song Dayenu: God did all of these things for us and any one of them would have been enough! In reading Parashat Beshalach this year, the biblical story of leaving Egypt —... Read more

The Blessing of Uncertainty

Last updated on: January 28, 2025 at 1:53 pm By Hebrew College

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By Rabbi Gita Karasov Parashat Bo (Exodus 10:1-13:16) One of the ways I like to end classes I teach is by asking participants to go around the room and fill in the sentence: “I now know…” This prompt gives people a chance to ask themselves what they have learned. “What do I know about myself, the text, this tradition, that I didn’t know an hour ago?” This is both a helpful tool for me to hear what people are taking... Read more

Reverential Doubt

Last updated on: January 22, 2025 at 10:52 am By Hebrew College

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By Rabbi Genevieve Greinetz Parashat Vaera Exodus 6:2-9:35 A few days ago, I returned from leading an attempted meditation retreat at Brandeis Bardin in the northern LA area. Two days in, the Pacific Palisades fire broke out and within twelve hours, fires were blazing all around the area. The closest fire was burning 28 miles away, so we were relatively safe, but “safe” in a way that felt porous and impacted. Mulling over Parashat Vaera in the wind one day,... Read more

Knowing Humanity

Last updated on: January 14, 2025 at 4:31 pm By Hebrew College

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By Naomi Gurt Lind, Hebrew College rabbinical student Parashat Shmot Exodus 1:1-6:1 Some years ago, when I was relatively new to Torah learning and eager to explore, I was doing parsha study with a group of friends, and we encountered this verse. וַיָּקׇם מֶלֶךְ־חָדָשׁ עַל־מִצְרָיִם אֲשֶׁר לֹא־יָדַע אֶת־יוֹסֵף׃ And there arose over Egypt a new king who knew not Josef. (Exodus 1:8) Familiar from my family’s rendering of the Pesach seder, this was a verse that felt like I’d always... Read more

How to Live Amidst Alienation and Exile

Last updated on: January 7, 2025 at 12:01 pm By Hebrew College

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Since the US election two months ago, and over the course of the devastating war in Israel and Gaza, I have been plagued with a feeling of alienation. In both America and Israel, the gap between the way the world is and the way I believe it should be grows ever wider. And, despite significant effort on my part, I don’t know how to fix things—how to bridge the ideological, social, and spiritual divides that make progress so elusive. This... Read more

The Patriarch who wasn’t a Patriarch

Last updated on: January 2, 2025 at 1:04 pm By Hebrew College

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By Rabbi Michael Shire Parashat Va-Yiggash (Genesis 44:18-47:27) What makes a Patriarch a patriarch? What makes a Matriarch a matriarch? Genesis provides the stories of characters in each generation, some of whom we have designated as leaders of their generation, ultimately including them in our prayers. We do this for Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah (Berakhot 16b:13-14). The rabbis suggest that each has a different relationship with God such that we repeat the phrase ‘God of…’ each... Read more

What does "Golgotha" literally mean?