Category: 5786
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Noach 5786: Family, Nation Kehilah
I vividly remember pushing Noam in a stroller in a crowded Washington Heights pharmacy on a Friday afternoon when he was perhaps four months old. I turned a corner and his stroller bumped into another stroller…
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Bereishit 5786: One Thing and One Thing Only
Rabbi Yehuda Amital z’l was a tremendous scholar and a sophisticated speaker but he spoke and wrote in a plainspoken style. And one of his plainspoken and pithy observations about Parashat Bereishit has been lovingly preserved…
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Shimini Atzeret 5786: Objects of Sanctity and Implements of a Mitzvah
Two years ago, I prepared a whimsical and informative Dvar Torah for Shimini Atzeret which I printed before yom tov, brought to shul, and have never delivered. Last year I spoke about the impossible task of…
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Ha’azinu 5786: Everyday Holines
In recent days I may have shared with a few of you how much I appreciate the first coffee after Yom Kippur and several of you sent me very sweet notes on Friday morning hoping that…
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YK 5786: Praying with Sinners and Praying for Sinners
Many years ago my father in law shared a helpful mnemonic for remembering the six fast days of the Jewish calendar. They are, the black and the white, the man and the woman, and long and…
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RH2 5786: And God Remembered Noah
Why was Noah instructed to build an Ark? This seems like an obvious question but there is a profound dispute between Rashi and Ramban, our greatest medieval commentaries about precisely this question. After giving Noah exact…
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RH1 5786: The Holiday of Failure
One of the ways that technology has addled my brain is that I find it nearly impossible to do household tasks unless I’m listening to a podcast. This is often very annoying for members of my…
Rabbi David Wolkenfeld 