Category: Year
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Devarim 5780: “The Background Music of Life”
לַכֹּ֖ל זְמָ֑ן וְעֵ֥ת לְכָל־חֵ֖פֶץ תַּ֥חַת הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃ For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a…
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Tetzaveh 5780: “Filling Absence with Presence”
Torah Tzivah Lanu Moshe. The Torah, and its content, was commanded to us through Moshe our teacher. And, from the day that he was named, early in Parashat Shmot, until the very last verses of the…
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Terumah 5780: “Walls and What They Contain”
The morning of August 11, 2008, began like any other. Sara, pregnant at the time with Hillel and Akiva, had a routine prenatal exam, and I drove to Princeton to spend the day unpacking boxes in…
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Vaera 5780: “Shortness of Breath”
Many of you know this morning’s Torah portion very well. You know the plagues that were inflicted on the Egyptians. If I say, “dam, tzfarde’ah…” you know what comes next (kinim). If I say “let my…
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VaYigash 5780: “From the Maccabeats to Monsey: Standing Tall and Drawing Close”
Shannah Tovah. Just kidding. But a new decade does provide a chance to look back over the past ten years. In the days leading up to Hanukkah ten years ago a group of Yeshiva University students,…
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VaYeshev 5780: “The Light of Torah”
On September 28th, 1997, I made my way to Madison Square Garden for a historic event. On that day the daf-yomi cycle of synchronized Talmud study was completed for only the tenth time since this learning…
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VaYetzei 5780: “A Stairway Set on the Ground; Its Top Reached the Heavens”
The brief presidency of John F. Kennedy is sometimes credited with destroying the American hat industry. According to this legend, the glamorous young president’s decision to appear at his inauguration without a hat led millions of…
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Toldot 5780: “Sharing the Torah”
If you had received a private message from God that would determine the future of your family and the fate of nations, would you share that news? If you were sent on a mission by God…
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Vayera 5780: “Open Rebuke & Concealed Love”
Sometimes a story can be so familiar that we don’t realize that we don’t truly know it at all. After many years of childless marriage, Avraham fathers a child, Yishmael. Yishmael was the answer to Avraham’s…
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Bereishit 5780: “The Tree of Growing Up”
Bette Davis famously said “old age ain’t no place for sissies.” This is a quote that launched a thousand novelty t-shirts and coffee mugs and tote bags. If I were designing one of those inspirational coffee…
Rabbi David Wolkenfeld 