Parashat Naso
05/25/2023 08:02:11 AM
Parashat Naso is the longest portion in the Torah. It contains numerous distinct themes. In short, it includes: the service of the Gershon family of Levites, the laws relating to the suspected adulteress, instructions for the Nazirite, a person who dedicates themselves to service...Read more...
A Place of Love, or Planning, or Some Combination Therein
05/18/2023 07:27:07 AM
This week, Jewish communities all around the world start reading the fourth book of the Torah — “Numbers” in English, after the census as the beginning of the book, and “B’midbar” (“in [the] wilderness”) in Hebrew, after the first word in the...Read more...
A World Full of Blessings
05/11/2023 09:38:37 AM
Shabbat shalom friends. This week’s Torah portion (Behar-Bechukotai), concludes the Book of Leviticus with a litany of blessings and curses on the Jewish people for following (or not following) the commandments. Did you know that there are more curses listed (36) than blessings...Read more...
Parashat Emor - Intention for Sacred Time
04/26/2023 11:26:33 AM
Over Pesach this year, I heard a variation on this sentence quite a few times: “We are such terrible Jews. We had to do seder on a Saturday instead this year!” Or, “I feel so embarrassed that we went to Disney and decided to skip our seder.” Or, even, “My kids got so fed...Read more...
Acharei Mot-Kedoshim
04/25/2023 02:14:31 PM
This week is one of the few where we read two Torah portions over one Shabbat. In years that are not leap years, we double up on a number of Parshiot. Next year, when we have a leap year, each Shabbat will have a single Torah portion.
Although there is a practical reason why there are two portions this week, I...Read more...
Tzara’at: The Spiritual Malaise of our Day
04/19/2023 02:51:39 PM
This week’s double Torah portion (Tazria and Metzora, from Leviticus) speak of individual purification and the role of the Priests in helping to provide healing for a person who contracts Tzara’at, a biblical skin condition such as leprosy. What we learn in the portion is that...Read more...
Parshat Shemini: Strange Fire and the Purity of Motive
04/13/2023 10:11:20 AM
Greetings to all, and I hope your Passover celebrations were happy and rewarding and you’re enjoying the beginning of spring.
It’s funny that of all Jewish holidays, Passover is the one we do at home. Far from being easy for the layperson, the Seder is complicated and...Read more...
Special Dvar Torah from Kehilat Raanan (Our Sister Congregation in Israel)
04/05/2023 02:58:37 PM
Dear Friends and Partners overseas,
In our prayers, Passover is known as “the time of our freedom” – a time when the Israelites escaped from bondage and began their...Read more...
Parashat Tzav
03/29/2023 10:58:01 AM
This week’s Torah portion speaks of subjects that are very far from our reality – the details of animal sacrifices of all sorts are described along with the ordination of the Aaron, the High Priest, and his sons. While I am committed to writing about the weekly portion and to...Read more...
Vayikra: What Do We Sacrifice Today?
03/22/2023 01:27:27 PM
As I often tell my Bar and Bat Mitzvah students, thank goodness we no longer keep all 613 commandments found in the Torah! After all, the vast majority have to do with the bloody and detailed work of sacrificing animals to God at the Temple in Jerusalem. Since that same Temple was...Read more...
Being Present and Building Resilience
03/16/2023 08:42:57 AM
I took a class this week at the Fairfax County Police Academy on Trauma Informed Policing taught by one of our own TRS congregants, Leslie Weisman, a law enforcement oriented mental health professional. Besides representing the Jewish people very well (she brought snacks, like a...Read more...
All Israel Are Responsible for One Another
03/09/2023 11:56:27 AM
What does it mean to be part of, or connected to, the Jewish people?
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Parshat Titzaveh - Lighting Your Inner Light
02/28/2023 10:39:44 AM
This past Sunday, I dropped by Cantor Allen Leider’s Mussar class and happened to enter right when they were discussing a profound question: “What is your soul’s true path?” We talked about it for a while, everyone pondering what their soul is uniquely meant to do in this...Read more...
Parashat Terumah
02/21/2023 01:52:59 PM
This week’s Torah portion contains a sentence that is near and dear to hearts of all members of Temple Rodef Shalom. In Exodus chapter 25 verse 8 we read: “Asu li mikdash, v’shochanti bi’tocham” – make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among you. These are the...Read more...
Mishpatim and Black History Month
02/15/2023 03:26:25 PM
The Torah is full of powerful moments, affecting us in deep and diverse ways. Some make us proud of our heritage, and others challenge us to reckon with our past. Parshat Mishpatim (Laws), which contains laws governing everything from festival holidays to judicial integrity, also...Read more...
Yitro — Good Advice is Priceless
02/09/2023 08:29:56 AM
In this week’s Torah portion, Yitro, we are reintroduced to Moses’s endearing and accepting father-in-law, Jethro (or Yitro in Hebrew). Moses and Jethro have not seen each other since Moses left his simple life as a shepherd to free the Israelites from Egypt. They greet each...Read more...
B'shalach — Showing Up for Others
02/02/2023 10:19:11 AM
There’s a beautiful poem inspired by this week’s Torah portion, B’shalach, which reads in part:
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Parshat Bo and Tu BiShvat: The Difficulty and Urgency of Change
01/26/2023 03:00:06 PM
The first verse of Parshat Bo sums up the difficulty of making systemic change; Pharaoh’s heart is hardened. He will not willingly change course to create a sustainable future for Egypt or the Israelites. In fact, none of the environmental disasters...Read more...
Parashat Va'era
01/17/2023 10:20:23 AM
This week's Torah portion is the second in the Book of Exodus. In Parashat Va'era God tells Moses that the time has come to free the Israelites from Egyptian bondage. Moses is told that he should go before Pharaoh to ask the Egyptian ruler to allow the Israelites to depart. Twice...Read more...
It is Eternally Egypt
01/12/2023 09:27:39 AM
I can’t help but think of the similarities between Moses, who is born in this week’s Torah portion, Shemot, the first portion of the book of Exodus, and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who was born this weekend in 1929. Is this a coincidence that both “birthdays” occur...Read more...
Vayechi, A Blessing of Promise and Possibility
01/05/2023 10:00:00 AM
Before our forefather Jacob dies in this last portion of the book of Genesis, he offers blessings to his sons. The blessings are curious. They are mixed, some filled with love and others with regret and criticism. They are colored by these men’s lives to date and Jacob’s...Read more...
Chanukah — Telling the Whole Story (Part I)
12/21/2022 10:33:09 AM
Chag Urim Samayach! Wishing everyone a very joyful Festival of Lights – Chanukah celebration. This Shabbat will be filled with candles and latkes and sufganiyot (jelly donuts) and even a few presents. It has also been a time to connect to the themes of the holiday...Read more...
Our Temple’s Work in Fighting Antisemitism
12/15/2022 10:23:29 AM
As we approach our Chanukah festivities this weekend, we have a lot to celebrate. The congregation is thriving with activity and engaging in acts of service during our Winter Mitzvah Month, which kicks off this week. Chanukah is a multifaceted holiday, about spreading light in...Read more...
Making Sense Of It All
12/07/2022 02:29:42 PM
I hope you are excited as I am to officially welcome our newest member of the clergy team, Rabbi Alexandra Stein, at the service of Installation tomorrow evening. It’s exciting to celebrate a first for our congregation by welcoming our third full-time Rabbi. I hope you will join...Read more...
Vayetzei: Spiritual Moments
11/30/2022 01:48:11 PM
I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving, ate your fill, and enjoyed the company of family or friends. What was your Thanksgiving celebration like? Did it remind you of what you are grateful for? Did you share any meaningful moments with the people around you? Perhaps, in the...Read more...
Holidays of Gratitude and Connection
11/23/2022 10:00:49 AM
In addition to Thanksgiving, this week brings us two Jewish holidays with related themes: Sigd, and Rosh Chodesh Kislev.
Sigd, which fell this week on Tuesday night and Wednesday (and falls every year on the 29th day of the month of Heshvan), is a Beta Israel...Read more...
Parashat Chaye Sarah
11/17/2022 12:00:00 PM
Vayeira: An “As The World Turns” Soap Opera
11/10/2022 09:53:39 AM
I remember when I’d have to stay home from school because of illness and I would watch the daytime soap operas. Remember “As the World Turns” or “General Hospital”? While I don’t remember much about them specifically, I do recall that they were full...Read more...
Lech L'cha
11/03/2022 01:58:58 PM
In our prayerbooks, there is a beautiful alternative reading for the Ahava Rabba (a prayer about the ways the Torah can be seen as an expression of love) that goes like this:
“Once or twice in a lifetime,
a [person] may choose
a radical leaving, having...Read more...
The Two Stories of Noah
10/27/2022 12:58:38 PM
I’ve often reflected on the two vastly different stories of Noah in Jewish tradition. The fact that there are actually two independent tales of the flood in the book of Genesis, that have been blended together into the one we all know, is not...Read more...