Category: Parasha
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Mishpatim 5786: Serious Judaism for a Fragile Society
I am so happy to be here with all of you this morning and I want to begin by thanking the community for the chance to have spent the past two weeks in Israel. I am…
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Va’era 5786: Fervor without Fundamentalsim
One of the greatest scandals for Jewish philosophy is the way that Pharaoh loses his freedom over the course of the exodus as his hardened heart numbs him to the suffering of his own people and…
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VaYehi 5786: The Crybaby and the King
Who cries the most in the Torah? The obvious answer to that question is Yosef who cries throughout his life up to and including the moment in this week’s parasha when his brothers return to Egypt…
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VaYigash 5786: Protective Presence
My father had two contenders for the “greatest man he ever met.” One was Winston Churchill who was also a passenger on the ocean liner that brought my father to America as an immigrant in 1949.…
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Miketz 5786: When Were We Commanded?
Sometimes the words we say most frequently are the words we understand least well. How many times this week have you said the phrase “Asher Kidshanu B’Mitzvotav v’Tzivanu…”? I hope many of us have said it…
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Vayishlach 5786: Specialists without Spirit, Sensualists Without Heart
Miracles are embarrassing. At least that’s what Maimonides believed. A perfect God would create the world correctly the first time without needing to go back and intervene. With this starting point, we understand how Maimonides, Rambam,…
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VaYetzei 5786: Gratitude & Ambition
There is something absurd about the American “holiday season” for an observant Jew. What is so hard about hosting a Thanksgiving meal? You can turn your oven on and off and cook on Thanksgiving. You can…
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Chaye Sarah 5786: Secured Under Public Law
Three shemitah cycles ago, back in 2008, Sara and I lived and studied in Israel and had the experience of observing the special laws of shemitah, the Sabbatical year. We were not property owners and did…
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Vayera 5786: Friends and Allies
At least one time in my life I accepted rebuke. When I was eighteen or nineteen years old and in my first year in yeshiva, a group of us went somewhere together, had an interaction with…
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Lekh Lekha 5786: There Are No Magical Horses
The Baal Shem Tov, the almost mythological – but actually historic – founder of the Hasidic movement in 18th century Ukraine owned magical horses. Story after story speaks of his exploits and adventures. He would climb…
Rabbi David Wolkenfeld 