D'var Torah

The Passover story recognizes that the journey to freedom involves struggle and suffering. In the midst of our most joyous celebration we acknowledge the pain our liberation caused for others by taking wine out of our cups as we recite the ten plagues. It teaches us that the lesson of compassion is inextricably linked to...

At the first Passover, we marked our doorposts with the blood of a sacrificial lamb to protect us from the Angel of Death (Exodus 12:23). Although that was a one-time ritual, doors continue to be a central symbol of the holiday. It is a symbol that seems more relevant than ever in an age when nativism...

“Some are guilty, all are responsible.” – Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel What are we to do about our guilt? How do we take responsibility? Opportunities to feel guilty are everywhere these days. Simply opening Facebook or turning on the television brings us face to face with terrible tragedies and injustices caused by human failures and...

Why was the book of Leviticus placed in the center of Torah? You know that there had to be other options. We all feel the shift. Left on the cliff-hanger at the end of Exodus, we spend 8-10 weeks with nary a hint of narrative. It’s as if the Torah lifts us out of time...

“In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if [they are] denied the opportunity of an education,” U.S Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren declared in the famed case of Board v. Board of Education, almost 64 years ago. Decades later, in 2009, Former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan...

Like all congregational rabbis, I frequently give eulogies for the deceased, and walk with their families to bury them. Jewish tradition prioritizes remembering the dead. It is a mitzvah gedolah—a great mitzvah—to give a eulogy that breaks the hearts of the listeners and highlights the praiseworthy deeds deceased, while simply forgetting his or her failings....

Purim is almost here and in my home we are busy preparing our Mishloach Manot baskets to deliver to family and friends. It’s important to me that we select only the finest products to fulfill this important mitzvah of Purim, so I always look for an American equivalent of Pri Etz Hadar (the beautiful etrog); vine...

Let’s face it: change is usually slow. Confronting the institutional injustices we see at all levels of government and many parts of corporate America, it’s hard to know which of the two moves slower. As we persist, we need opportunities to renew our hope and inspire others to continue working to bring about desperately needed...

US government policies have consequences—both foreseen and unforeseen. Thirty years ago, we armed Afghani rebels, the mujahedeen, in their fight against the Soviet Union, the so-called “evil empire.” One of those rebels was named Osama bin Laden, and you know the rest of that story. The CIA has a term for this kind of operation gone...

In the grand scheme of things, Yitro is actually a pretty minor biblical character. His name is only mentioned 12 times in the entirety of the Torah. Yet for someone as minor as he is, he’s got quite the midrashic backstory. The midrash (Devarim Rabbah 1:5, Kohelet Rabbah 3:11, and elsewhere) states that Yitro sampled all of the...