Torn with grief; Turning back to life: VaYeshev 5779
The most primal ritual of grief in our tradition is the rending of garments. The word “rending” is too pretty for the violent tearing of fabric with its distinctive sound and sensation. And the timid...
View ArticleThe Peekaboo Menorah–Hanukkah 5779
My favorite student sweater this week said “Happy Llamakka,” and of course featured a picture of a Jewish llama. I don’t recall any llamas in the Talmud’s discussion of the festival of lights, but...
View ArticleBecoming Conscious: Shabbat Bo 5779
How do you explain consciousness? The inner sense that each of has of being alive, of making decisions, of directing our bodies, of remembering, of feeling, of knowing—where does all of this come from?...
View ArticleDissonant Beauty by the Sea: BiShalah 5779
It’s awesome to discover something precious where you don’t expect it to be. I had that feeling this week when I found a theory of music and a celebration of diversity in the introduction to a 19th...
View ArticleSharing Sinai with all that lives: Yitro 5779
What is the significance of Sinai for animals? This might sound like a strange question—the theophany was for people, right? If anything, we might say that animals were instruments in the form of...
View ArticleFrom Mishpatim to MobileEye. Who is Responsible? 5779
Is a person liable for damage caused by their property? For example, if I direct an autonomous vehicle to drive me to the store, and the car runs over property or injures or even kills an animal or a...
View ArticlePennies for Heaven: Terumah 5779
How do you feel about fund-raising? For many people it is an unwelcome task, but pause to consider the expression, which refers to the elevation of money towards a higher purpose. That is the literal...
View ArticleMissing Miriam: Ki Tissa 5779
I feel sympathy for Aaron. While his brother Moses is enjoying a one on One visit with God on top of Sinai, Aaron faces a restive crowd below, desperately trying to hold them off. As Rashi notes,...
View ArticleFrom Mishkan to the Mind of God: VaYakheil 5779
Lately I have been reading scientific literature on consciousness, which remains one of the most mysterious aspects of life. Princeton neurologist Michael Graziano and I will be exploring the subject...
View ArticleClouds of Glory: Pekudei 5779
“What do you mean, Rabbi? The clouds are mysterious—it’s like being on Sinai!” This statement by a rabbinical student consoled me several years ago on the summit of Giant Mountain in the Adirondacks....
View ArticleComing Clean: Vayikra/Zakhor 5779
False oaths are an especially pernicious form of social crime because they cause serious harm to individuals while also imperiling an entire system. Oaths were administered using the divine name (and...
View ArticleStupid Anger: Shmini/Parah 5779
Anger is often an understandable reaction, and yet it can be one of the most destructive and debilitating of emotions. It is hard to imagine how Moses feels when his two nephews Nadav and Avihu are...
View ArticleBecome a Mitzvah Agent: HaHodesh 5779
Our third Torah reading this Shabbat (Ex. 12:1-20) is the fourth and final special maftir related to Purim and Pesah. As with the entire complex of Passover rituals there is an intentional blending of...
View ArticleWhy is this Shabbat different from all others? Shabbat HaGadol 5779
I recently noticed a curious feature of the Passover prophetic cycle. On Shabbat HaGadol, the final Shabbat before Pesah, we read the final verses of the final prophet—Malakhi 3:4-24. The next...
View ArticleSilence Above and Below: Aharei Mot 5779
Ze’ev Wilhelm Falk was a professor of law at Hebrew University who also served as rector and faculty at the Schechter institute in Jerusalem. Born in Breslau in 1923, he fled Germany alone at 16,...
View ArticleDefective Priests and Animals; Dignity Demanded for All. Emor 5779
Last week in Parashat Kedoshim we read one of the most enlightened passages in the Torah. In verse 14 the Torah commands us not to curse the deaf, nor to trip the blind, but to fear the Lord your God....
View ArticleJTS Ordination Address ל”ג בעומר תשע”ט/ May 23, 2019
This ceremony of investiture and ordination, Tekes Hasmakhah, represents the transmission of knowledge and authority down through the generations of Jewish leaders to the wise minds, sensitive souls...
View ArticleHazon 5779: A Nuanced View of Comfort
Shabbat Hazon is one of only three Shabbatot known primarily for its haftarah—the others being Nahamu next week and Shuvah during the ten days. Our haftarah from Isaiah 1 culminates the three weeks of...
View ArticlePerfect and Whole in a Broken World Shoftim 5779
What’s our position on mediums? Years ago in Detroit some in the Jewish community were drawn to a woman who claimed that she could channel conversations with their deceased relatives. Families who with...
View ArticleTithing for Today: Ki Tavo 5779
What do the Torah’s tithes have to do with us? Is there a straight line connecting verses that call for support of the Levite, stranger, widow and orphan to the forms of charity practiced today? Our...
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