Last year, the annual reading of Parashat Va-Era fell close to the new American Memorial Day in honor of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., the great Black civil rights leader. Read more...

One of the characteristics of youth is impatience. While older adults are tempered by the realities of human passivity and inertia, young people agitate for immediate change and progress. Unwilling to concede that society moves very slowly, unable to accept human suffering and callousness, our colleges remain centers of agitation and protest as young people attempt to translate their dreams of a redeemed humanity into a living reality.   Read more...

God once again, Moses prepares himself to enter Pharaoh's court. Raised there from childhood, and having fled the court to avoid Pharaoh's anger, Moses now returns to demand the liberation of his people. Formerly a slave to the Egyptians, and adopted grandson to the Pharaoh, Moses must transform his inner nature to stand in a new role in court. Moses is summoned to grow in stature before he meets with the earthly king. Read more...

So how did Abraham become Abraham? How did Sarah become Sarah? We know that both Abraham and Sarah were "human, all too human." Their faults are on prominent display in this week's Torah portion. Abraham hides behind Sarah when they go down to Gerar, in order to save himself. Sarah demands that Hagar, the maidservant, mother of Abraham's first child (at Sarah's behest), be banished-and Abraham acquiesces to Sarah's demand. As a result of the expulsion Hagar and Ishmael almost die. Finally, Abraham almost slays Isaac on the altar. Read more...

This week’s Torah portion lands us in the middle of a war between the God of the universe and the false deity, Pharaoh. Having enslaved the Jewish people, Pharaoh seeks to destroy their spirit by exhausting their bodies. Seeking a total control over their hearts and soul, the idolatry that Pharaoh seeks to impose comes at a very high cost indeed: His insistence that true power is ruthless, that supremacy is something to be imposed continues to rear its ugly head, continues to assault the biblical tradition and those who love it. Read more...