Rabbi’s Torah Commentary

The sages teach us that, at any given point in time, the world stands firm because of the righteousness of 36 people. We call them “Lamed-vavniks” because the two Hebrew letters lamed (30)and vav (6) represent the number 36. 18 is the numerical representation of the Hebrew letters khet (8) and yod (10). It happens […]

A journalist assigned to the Jerusalem bureau takes an apartment overlooking the Wailing Wall. Every day when she looks out, she sees an old Jewish man praying vigorously. So the journalist goes down and introduces herself to the old man. She asks, “You come every day to the wall. How long have you done that, […]

“It’s too hard!” “I can’t do it!” These most often heard mantras from people who routinely demonstrate such a lack of faith in themselves also show a lack of faith in us. Regularly, I tell students, I would not have assigned the task if I thought it was too hard or you were not able. […]

I met with a young lady many years ago. She was complaining about all the things that were happening to her – she struggled each day. As I asked her about the challenges she faced, she reeled off the list of tragedies in her life. I had to admit being taken back by the gravity […]

One of the most iconic peace images depicts a young woman confronting a line of armed soldiers. One by one, she took flowers from her bouquet and inserted them into the barrels of the rifles before her. Religion tells us that it is never too late to turn from war to peace. Faith, on the […]

It would be too easy to go on a full-page political rant this week. Our Torah portion screams, “Justice, justice; you shall pursue it!” The text also reminds us to allow only unbiased judges on the bench. Political appointees or denials are simply unjust. The amount of fodder for spewing on over the last 40 […]

Shabbat is our sacred time. As Abraham Joshua Heschel taught us, it is the time to stop pursuing the things of creation and turn our attention to creation’s blessings. Shabbat is a respite from the weekly storm that swirls around the pressures of our jobs, calendars, family and work demands, and our ongoing insecurities. The […]

Way back in time, when the Temple in Jerusalem still had a fire on its altar, we prayed by bringing our offerings to the altar. We participated in the everyday offering, the thanks and atonement offerings, and a total of countless variations too numerous to recount here. When Rome destroyed the Temple, we went into […]

Rabbi Akiva taught Torah, even though Rome outlawed the practice. Proliferating our Jewish tradition cost people their lives, and Rome was all too happy to execute anyone who broke this law. On Yom Kippur, during the normative afternoon service, some synagogues spend extensive amounts of time recalling the tragedy that befell great sages of the […]

The 9th day of the Hebrew Calendar month of Av stands as one of the most dreaded ominous days in Jewish history. Tisha B’Av (the Hebrew way of saying it) saw the destruction of the first and second Temples in Jerusalem. Throughout history, people seeking to rid the world of Jews chose this day on […]