Clik here to view.
Purim 5777: Make Shushan Great Again?
Shittah Mishubeshet is a collection of medieval debates about the laws of Purim which exists only in manuscript form, and that in a single copy held by the venerable rare book collection of JTS....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ki Tissa 5777: Show Me Your Glory
What is Moses asking when he demands that God show him the glory? The Torah already had reported in Ex. 33: 11 that in the Tent of Meeting, the Lord spoke to Moses “face to face, like a man to his...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Vayakhel-Pekudei 5777: Moses, a Successful Failure
Moses, as a leader, is a successful failure. His highlights reel is pretty impressive—liberator, warrior, logistics coordinator, judge and prophet. And yet many things that Moses seeks to accomplish...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Vayikra 5777: Wholeness after Error
The world of Leviticus can be disorienting, especially in the chapters which focus on the details of the korbanot, the sacrifices with all of their bloody and smoky mess. Upon closer examination, each...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Shmini 5777: Ostrich Eggs and Miracle Meat
It might have been Parashat Shmini that put the idea of becoming a rabbi in my head. No, not the part about the two young priests getting zapped, but rather the detailed laws of kashrut. I grew up...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tazria-Metzora 5777: The Courage to Recover from Death to Life
Jewish consciousness in the coming months will be dominated by major anniversaries related to Israel–the fiftieth anniversary of the Six Day War, the centennial of the Balfour Declaration, the 70th...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Aharei Mot-Kedoshim 5777: Loving all Life, from Humans to Plants
If you want my nomination for the top phrase of the Torah, it would clearly be Leviticus 19:18b, “Love your neighbor as yourself, I am the Lord.” The Torah’s core message is that we are responsible for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Emor 5777: Do Kabbalistic Intentions Add or Detract from the Omer?
The Mishnah famously proclaims that one must not stand to pray unless they have first focused their mind (M. Brakhot 5:1). Curiously, the Talmud pairs this instruction with a similar rule not to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
JTS Ordination/Investiture Address 22 Iyar 5777 / 5.8.2017
In April of 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick published an article in the journal Nature describing the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA. This molecule of life was arranged in a double...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Naso 5777: The Problem with Priests
[Written for JTS Torah Commentary] Modern Judaism has a problem with the priesthood. The notion of hereditary holiness—that one segment of the Jewish people is set apart from others, given...
View ArticleClik here to view.
From Kilayim to Kabbalah to CRISPR
I participated in a conference on the new gene-editing technology known as CRISPR/Cas9 at Berkeley on June 18-19, 2017. Below are my remarks, building on the foundation of my 2015 responsum on genetic...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Re’eh 5777: Doing Right and Good, Denouncing Evil
There is no shortage of specific laws in the book of Deuteronomy—41 mitzvot are found in Parashat Re’eh alone. Yet this book also uses a more general instruction when it offers variants of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ki Tetze 5777: Parapets and Public Safety
The National Society of Professional Engineers maintains a Code of Ethics which opens with the fundamental canon that engineers shall, “Hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public.”...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ki Tavo 5777: Blessed Both Ways
Sometimes translations can’t help but make a mess of the original. A prime example is Deuteronomy 28:6, which in Hebrew is a pithy six words: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה בְּבֹאֶךָ וּבָרוּךְ אַתָּה בְּצֵאתֶךָ. JPS...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Rosh Hashanah 5778: Just Mercy
The pick-up truck was parked outside a prison in rural Alabama. It was festooned with Confederate flags and bigoted bumper stickers; there was a shotgun in a rack. Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Yom Kippur 5778: Uplifting Our Lip Service
[This is not my YK sermon, but a message to cantorial and rabbinical students] The English put-down of “giving lip-service” rings hollow to Jewish ears. Sure, if your actions don’t match your words,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Yom Kippur 5778: Who’s in Charge?
An ancient paradox, presented in the name of Rabbi Akiva: הכל צפוי והרשות נתונה (אבות ג, טו) All is foreseen; but choice is given. (Avot 3:15) These four Hebrew words contain the classic conflict...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sukkot 5778: Speaking of Joy
The Sefat Emet (R. Judah Aryeh Leib of Gur,1847-1905) offers many gems for deepening our understanding of the festival of Sukkot. He opens one drashah with reference to the “joy of water-drawing”...
View ArticleTerumah 5778: A Tent to Stand for all Time
Tent pole technology keeps improving. Newer models have lightweight, aluminum poles that are flexible, threaded with elastic to keep together, and color-coded to help fit them in the right clips and...
View ArticleZakhor 5778: Hear the Voice of Esther
I recently had a first meeting with a prospective convert and her partner. Introducing the importance of Torah study to Jewish identity, I rolled open my Megillah on the desk before them and began to...
View Article