Category: 5776
-
Nitzavim 5776: “40 Years”
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Netanyahu convened his cabinet and made the observation that it was the first time ever that the cabinet of Israel had met without Shimon Peres. As the last surviving founding father of…
-
Devarim 5776: “From Jerusalem to Lawndale: Tisha b’Av 5776”
I’ve just read the opening paragraphs of an article published in the Chicago Tribune this past week reported by Alexandra Chachkevitch and Peter Nickeas. The story shook me to the core and I had to fight back…
-
Matot-Ma’asei 5776: “Patriarchy and Progress”
I received a package in the mail this week which filled with terror when I opened it and saw what was inside. I opened the large white envelope and out…slipped…the Ezras Torah Luach for 5777 which begins…
-
Pinchas 5776: “The Audacity of Leadership”
The least appreciated verse in the Torah must be “וידבר ה׳ אל משה לאמור“ The second least appreciated verse in the Torah is… “וידבר ה׳ אל משה לאמור.“ And the third least appreciated verse in the…
-
Shlach 5776: “The Only Thing We Have to Fear is Fear Itself”
In 1933, when Franklin Roosevelt spoke at his first inauguration, the country was in the grip of the Great Depression. Millions of Americans were unemployed, millions faced homelessness and hunger. In a nation without Social Security, close to…
-
Baha’alotcha 5776: “How to Be a Mensch and Why”
In 2007 an anonymous Jewish blogger attempted to classify all 613 mitzvot of the Torah into those that were likely to be supported by Democrats and those that would be supported by Republicans. He went through…
-
Naso 5776: “Arba Avot Nezikin: Four Kinds of Damage”
On March 24, 1999, NATO warplanes lead by the United States Air Force began an eleven-week aerial assault on Serbia to prevent and reverse an ongoing humanitarian crisis in Kosovo. During the course of this brief war,…
-
Behar 5776: “But What Does That Have to Do With the Price of Tea in China?”
One of the fun things about Israel is the way in which Jewish culture infiltrates small details of daily life and culture. Instead of using the English idiom, “but what does that have to do with…
-
Kedoshim 5776: “Baseless Love or Solidarity?”
History is important, not only as it occurs and is recorded, but also as it is remembered and retold. Sometimes old and well known stories get told in new ways. And, sometimes an event from the…
-
Tzav 5776: “Jewish Power from Sushan to Washington”
I speak a lot from this pulpit about the daily minyanim here at Anshe Sholom and the need to strengthen their reliability and grow the attendance, of men and women in this community, at our weekday…
Rabbi David Wolkenfeld 