D'var Torah

When we tell others the stories of our lives, we often find ourselves spicing up the narrative a bit as we tell and retell the story. It’s only human to exaggerate a bit, especially if our audiences don’t seem to be giving the stories the attention we feel that they deserve. Our additions add an...

These are the words Joseph spoke to his brothers; words of identification, love and reconciliation. In four Hebrew words (Gen. 45:12), Joseph has bridged an insuperable chasm between his brothers and himself. And in speaking as he did, he closed a chapter about lives marked by separation. There are chasms that mark our lives, keeping...

“Time will tell where love goes when one of its most radiant sources is ungraciously taken. Yet so many lean forward to give cover along the way.” I penned these words in March 2009, shortly after burying my 19-year-old son. It was a devastating experience to let go of my child. And yet, the loving...

Parshat Nitzavim, the first of this week’s double parshah, speaks powerfully to our fundamental human need for connection to each other and to Gd — and therefore to the isolation that is an anathema to it. The covenant of Torah that began with the distant and dramatic display of Gd’s power at Mount Sinai is...

Recently, I was with a group of students on an early morning nature walk. I tried to create a moment that I was hoping would be a different kind of prayer experience. Rather than read or chant through the prayers, we tried to experience them with the benefit of Mother Nature. It soon became clear...

As this d’var Torah goes to print, we are in the middle of a second cease-fire, wondering whether this one will last beyond its three days. Nearly half of the casualties from this war are civilians, including hundreds of children. I believe that Israel not only should continue to exist but should thrive, with the...

There shall be no needy among you – since the Lord your God will bless you in the land the Lord your God is giving to you as an inheritance – if only you heed the Lord your God and take care to keep all this mitzvah that I enjoin upon you this day. (Deut....

One of my favorite programs at my synagogue is our B’nei Mitzvah family retreat. At the beginning of the summer, we take our incoming seventh grade families to camp for the weekend. It’s remarkable: relationships between kids change, parents get to know each other, and, after the Bar or Bat Mitzvah, we keep most of...

Earlier this summer, before the fighting began in Israel, I led a birthright trip. From June 16th-26th, there was one issue on the minds of nearly every Israeli I met: the kidnapping of Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaer, and Eyal Yifrah, the Israeli teens who were taken on June 12th. Throughout the trip, we knew nothing...

“The sky above your head will be copper and the earth beneath you iron.  HaShem will give the rain of your land over to dust, and sand from the sky will descend on you until you are destroyed.” (Deut. 28:23, 24) This week’s parashah contains some of the most terrifying verses in the Torah. Curses...