Parashat Ha Shavua Commentaries

The Ten Commandments are probably the most well-known part of the Torah, and along with the prohibitions against murder and theft, the commandment to honor one's parents is probably the most well remembered of the Ten. As a child, I thought that this commandment was addressed to young children and their parents and that it required me to obey my parents - and my parents did not disabuse me of that interpretation! Read more...

The Ten Commandments are probably the most well-known part of the Torah, and along with the prohibitions against murder and theft, the commandment to honor one's parents is probably the most well remembered of the Ten. As a child, I thought that this commandment was addressed to young children and their parents and that it required me to obey my parents - and my parents did not disabuse me of that interpretation! Read more...

The first three Torah portions of Sefer Sh'mot (the Book of Exodus) are the three portions that invite us to exist in Mitzrayim (Egypt), and it is here that I would invite us to dwell one more moment, despite our natural eagerness to leave the place of our degradation and enslavement. Read more...

I was not a good child in Hebrew school. Corresponding to the plethora of ways I found to misbehave in Hebrew school, my teachers employed a potpourri of disciplinary modes as part of my Jewish education. Now that I am a rabbi, I can try to redeem some of the "difficult moments" that regularly occurred between me and the teachers of my childhood. I hope to show how my holy teachers spoke to me in the way Jacob spoke to his children in this week's Torah portion. Read more...

This Shabbat, we read the story of Joseph. Imprisoned because of false accusations from Potiphar, Joseph finds himself in the company of the baker and cupbearer. Listening to their dreams, Joseph brings hope and light in moments of darkness and fear. And, as we prepare to celebrate Hanukah in the coming week, I am reminded of story that reminds us, too, of the mandate to bring light into the world for others, especially at this time of darkness. As the story is told, it is a conversation between a rabbi and one particular member of the community Read more...