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Rabbi's Torah
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Rabbi Marc Kline’s thoughts and views on this week’s Parashah!
For the last several weeks, the Torah spoke of challenge after challenge to Moses’ authority. The greatest rebellion was Korach’s, and what we found was that no one, the rebel nor the authoritarian came out unscathed. Violence hurts everyone: it victimizes both the perpetrator and the tormented alike. The perpetrator falls victim to his own […]
I find myself scratching my head in disbelief. As leaders of the world seem to be at each other’s throats, I watch as people across the globe align themselves on one side or the other, locked in step with the single-minded agenda of their “side’s” loudest voices. While we experienced the McCarthy era witch Hunt […]
Ok, you know the joke, “How many Synagogue board members does it take to change a light bulb?” “Change? The founding matriarch of this congregation gave that light bulb, it does not get changed!” The one sentence that stifles the growth of any organization: “This is the way we have always done it.” We run […]
I love Pirke Avot. It is the earliest Jewish book of ethics. Ok, many will argue that the Bible is the earliest, but it is not uniquely Jewish. The text of Pirke Avot (literally the Portions of the Sages) includes teachings well over 2000 years old, and yet, they still motivate our sense of holiness […]
Faith is a funny thing. It fills the heart, feeds the soul, and sustains the spirit. Often, though, it takes the failure of each to test and then prove one’s faith. It is easy to be “faithful” in the midst of good things. When everything is going your way, it is easy to have expectations […]
When I was young, I wanted to be important. As I grew, I started to understand that the goal was less about stardom as it was about wisdom. Stardom would come if one did really good things. As I now have grown children and a grandson, I realize that recognition is fleeting and ultimately a […]
“May God bless you and protect you.” The “Priestly blessing appears in this week’s Torah portion. I say these words a lot these days. In formula, I use them every week from the pulpit. They come out at every life cycle celebration. At rites of passage moments, they speak to the future of blessing amidst […]
As I pay attention to the news from the Middle East, I have to fight off some depression and frustration. I have been blessed to co-lead and lead two Interfaith clergy trips to Israel on behalf of our Heart of New Jersey Jewish Federation. The goal of each trip is to help Rabbis, Ministers, Priests, […]
I grew up hating professional students. I always thought, pejoratively, that people who spent their lives studying needed to get a life. What a waste!!!!! Then, I went to law school. At that point, I added some more letters to my name and committed to a career of study (UGH!). If one does not keep […]
Let none [of you] defile himself for a dead person among his people (Lev. 21:1) According to Torah, coming near a dead body makes one unclean, or impure. If one is “impure,” one is ostracized from the community during the period of impurity. At the very same time, it is an ultimate “mitzvah” to properly […]