Stand up straight? Behar-Behukotai 5781
Just before the Torah switches from blessing to rebuke in our second portion, Behukotai, God reminds the people that they were removed and liberated from Egyptian servitude in order to walk upright,...
View ArticleA Better Way to Pay Restitution: Naso 5781
Many years ago my car was stolen from its spot outside our apartment in Michigan. In the middle of the night a police officer woke us up and informed me that someone had been pulled over while driving...
View ArticleHumility from Heaven: Pinhas 5781
“And there shall be a sin offering for the Lord” (Numbers 28:15). Did God commit a sin? What? When? We know all about the sin of Adam and Eve, but God is perfect, right? Indeed, the Torah does...
View ArticleBereshit 5782: Freewill from Forbidden Fruit
Who wouldn’t want to eat a fruit that makes them smarter? In Chapter 2 of Genesis, God places Adam in the Garden of Eden and invites the first people to taste any fruit in the garden, except for the...
View ArticleQuestions of Life and Legacy: VaYehi 2017
This final parashah of Genesis bears a cryptic title: Vayehi, “He (that is, Jacob) lived.” Well, of course he lived, and soon he will die, but how has he lived? What legacy does he bequeath? These are...
View ArticleEleh Ezkerah: Stepping in and out of the Shadows
Eleh Ezkerah for Minyan Maat Yom Kippur 5784 / September 25, 2023 These I recall and my soul melts with sorrow; for the bitter course of our history, tears pour from my eyes. The pages of Eleh Ezkarah...
View ArticleA Week in Northeastern Poland: Memory, Mourning, and Admiration
A few months ago my father, Michael Nevins, was invited to participate in a commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Białystok Ghetto uprising on August 16, 1943. This would be his fourth trip to...
View ArticleBehar 5784: The Blessings of Imperfection (GOA Graduation Address)
In Philadelphia hangs a famous bell with a great crack running down its side. The Liberty Bell is inscribed with the King James translation of a verse from this week’s Torah portion, Behar: “Proclaim...
View ArticleKi Teitzei 5784: The Extended Effects of Captivity
Danny Nevins, Ansche Chesed, Minyan Maat Shabbat Ki Teitzei 5784 /September 14, 2024 During the 330 days that her son Hersh was held captive, Rachel Goldberg-Polin made dozens of speeches that moved...
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