Category: Rabbi’s Dvrei Torah

This week’s Torah portion, Tzav, includes a description of the zevach todah, the “thanks offering” that was part of the ancient sacrifice rituals. You might wonder: What were the circumstances for which one needed to bring a todah, a “thanks offering”? The Torah does not list any specific circumstances for the “thanks offering”…though the rabbis…

Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey, after you left Egypt— how, undeterred by fear of God, he surprised you on the march, when you were famished and weary, and cut down all the stragglers in your rear. Therefore, when Adonai your God grants you safety from all your enemies around you, in…

The following commentary on Parashat Ki Tissa from Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, z”l, raises some profound questions about leadership. Although the discussion is about Aaron and his role in the people’s making a Golden Calf and committing the sin of idolatry, Rabbi Sacks is really suggesting we examine the behavior of our own leaders and our…

Today is the 14th day of the month of First Adar, an almost semi-holiday known as Purim Katan, the ‘Little Purim’ and tomorrow will be a similar almost semi-holiday known as ‘Sushan Purim Katan’, the ‘Little Shushan Purim.’ Today is the day that would be Purim…except that it is NOT Purim due to the fact…

As you know, I usually write my own thoughts about the weekly Torah portion in each week’s email. Occasionally, I share an article or comments from other folks if I feel they are particularly insightful…as I did last week. And here again this week I feel compelled to share. These comments by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks,…

What a week!…We celebrated Tu B’Shevat yesterday. We are observing International Holocaust Remembrance Day with a ceremony at Abbot Hall in Marblehead today at noon and in a special interfaith Kabbalat Shabbat service tonight at 6:00pm at Temple Sinai, while this Shabbat morning is “Shabbat Shira”, the ‘Sabbath of Song.’ Rabbi Batya Ellinoy will help…

I assume that, like me, you will have a couple of secular calendar dates echoing through your head this weekend: Tomorrow is January 6, four years from the infamous January 6 in 2020. And then on Sunday during the expected snow it will be January 7, grimly marking three full months since October 7. Can…

One of my great teachers was Reuven Hammer, z”l, from whom I received my rabbinical ordination. He was a prolific writer and a pioneering Jewish leader in both the US and in Israel. The following words of Torah about this week’s Torah portion, Vayechi, were shared by Rabbi Hammer and published in the book, To…

Last night (Thursday) we lit eight candles for Chanuka, dispelling the darkness with bright and hopeful light. What will we do tonight, then, when the darkness returns? We’ll light Shabbat candles, and their glow will have to be enough. And it will be enough. This situation reminds me of something taught by my friend and…

This Hebrew month of Kislev is – in the northern hemisphere – the darkest month of the year. To me (a relative newcomer to Massachusetts!) the first really cold days which also take place this month feel colder as they shock the senses and portend the long winter that is settling in. Yet in Kislev,…