Rabbi Lev Meirowitz Nelson

Vayera: War Ethics from Kabbalah

What feels so hard in this moment is that I don’t know what the right course of action is. One of the problems I see in the world’s response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack is a preponderance of either Chesed or Gevurah thinking.
read more

The Modern Plagues of Climate Change

When I was a senior in high school I had an alumni interview for entrance into a prestigious college. We sat in a café, and I remember telling the alum about my passion for healing the relationship between people and the earth. I probably used the term ‘environmental activist.’ At the end of the interview...
read more

On That Day

“Our God and God of our ancestors: in Your glory, rule over the entire universe; in Your splendor, be exalted over all the earth; in the majestic beauty of Your overwhelming presence, appear to all the inhabitants of Your world. Then, all that You have made will recognize You as their maker, all that You...
read more

Who are YOU in the Passover story?

“…And you shall explain to your son on that day, “It is because of what Adonai did for me when I went free from Egypt…” (Exodus 13:8). From the midst of the original Exodus narrative, the text jumps suddenly forward in time, imagining you and me, future generations, retelling this sacred story in a very...
read more

May Your Clothes Never Wear Out

This d’var Torah is sponsored by Bob Rottenberg in honor of his good friend and sofer, Rabbi Kevin Hale of Western Massachusetts, for above-and-beyond work reconstructing his aging tefillin.  It was torture wandering in the desert, those forty years, and the Israelites let everyone know it. Over and over, throughout the books of Exodus and Numbers,...
read more

The Grand Evening

A d’var Torah for Shavuot 5774 “Moses led the people out of the camp towards God, and they took their places at the foot of the mountain.” (Ex. 19:17) This is the essence and promise of Shavuot: that we as a people can walk towards God, take our places, and stand together as one nation,...
read more

In Time of Upheaval: Wonder & Awe OR Wealth & Wall?

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel taught that there are two ways of being in the world: “the way of expediency” and “the way of wonder.” In the former, we seek to take what we can from the world and others; in the latter, our focus is on how we can serve. When we are driven by...
read more

The Miracle of Water

When we read parashat Beshalach, most of our attention falls on the big miracle, the parting of the Red Sea. The Israelites celebrate with timbrel and dance, singing God’s praises for redeeming them from slavery. Given that, thousands of years later, we still commemorate this moment liturgically twice a day, one would think that the Israelites...
read more

Sign up for updates and action alerts