Category: Shemot
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Parashat Shemot 5785: The Shepshelle that Ran Away
I have learned a lot about diverse understandings of the Torah from the lessons that our children have brought home through the decades from the various schools they attended. (Our five children have attended a total…
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Shemot 5782: “A Long Time After That”
Have you ever endured something hard and unpleasant that seemed to last a lifetime, and then, just when you thought that your suffering and hardship would end, it turned out that it was not over? Sound…
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Shemot 5781: “Democracy and Torah”
This past Wednesday afternoon I spoke to a group of students who attend a Christian high school that is a sort of Protestant version of the Jewish day schools that many of our children attend. In…
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Shemot 5779: “The Israelite People are Too Numerous”
The first verses of Parashat Shemot compress decades of history, which must have been rich with nuanced and complicated politics and multi-facetted heroes and villains, into just a few verses. The Torah, at times, packs some…
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Shemot 5777: “And a New King Arose”
In 1812 and 1813 Napoleon’s armies marched into Russia, capturing Moscow, before retreating to France, defeated by the Russian winter and the tenacious opposition of the Russian people. Napoleon’s campaign into Russia was a turning point in…
Rabbi David Wolkenfeld 