Rabbi’s Torah Commentary

We learn from our histories. We are products of our culture and communities. Where our community teaches us to love and engage, it is second nature for us. It is not an intentional behavior; it is a pre-conditioned one. Where we grow up afraid in society, it too stands as our default behavior. It is […]

New. We begin anew. This week, we start the second book of the Torah – Exodus. We turn a new chapter in the story of our Biblical ancestry. We meet Moses. Moses is a Hebrew, born to the people of Israel at a time when Egypt enslaves Israel and calls for death of all male […]

We have come to the end of the book of Genesis. The Patriarch and Matriarch narratives are over and we move on to a new generation of conversation. As abruptly as the book and story line ends, one has to wonder as to its impact on the rest of the book. Is it simply a […]

While a student in seminary, I taught at the Reform Jewish High School in Cincinnati, Oh. Once a year, I would offer a class entitled “Sex, Murder, Mystery: An Introduction to The Bible.” Teenagers loved the title and had lots of fun in class. We looked at the more salacious stories in scripture to grow […]

Dreams fill the text of this week’s Torah portion, no differently than it did last week’s. Joseph dreams. Pharaoh’s butler and baker dream. Pharaoh dreams. The sages teach us that at night, our souls become slightly detached from our bodies. Every morning, we say a prayer acknowledging that we are again whole (Modeh Ani). Once […]

The magic of Torah rests in its ability to help us understand life through stories and paradigms that span generations and transcend particular stories. Sometimes we can see apparent lessons to discuss, and sometimes they emerge from the processes we bring to the text. Then there are times when the text is (or should be) […]

I am currently attending the Biennial Convention of the Union for Reform Judaism. I always enjoy getting away and getting to see friends and colleagues that I don’t get to see too often. I appreciate the effort and energy that goes into putting on a convention for a few thousand people. I appreciate the thoughtfulness […]

“God wants you to …” What a strange concept. With my human limitations, how can I possibly “know” what God wants? One cannot define the wants or needs of someone without knowing who that someone is. Even (and maybe especially) in religious sectarianism, one can only define what that religion’s take is on some aspect […]

A member of my “Experienced Adult” (avoid using the term “seniors”) Tuesday morning class keeps asking me, “If this stuff (Torah) is not real, why do we waste our time studying it?” Every week (often twice because of Shabbat mornings), I try to give him examples of how text leads us to meaningful conversations and […]

We ended last week’s Torah portion on a conundrum. Abraham and Isaac went up the mountain together – the Mountain at which God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Abraham comes down alone. The sages are all across the map as to what happened to Isaac. Some will argue that he died and subsequently experienced resurrection. […]