Category: Year
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Bo 5776: “Pharaoh vs. Powerball”
They say a lottery is a tax on those who aren’t good at math. If that’s true, then that’s a tax that I really ought to pay. Nonetheless I did not buy a lottery ticket (I’m…
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VaYechi 5776: “Jewish Unity and Its Discontents”
This past Tuesday morning, students at forty Jewish high schools across North America gathered together, using video conferencing technology, and marked the completion of the study of the entire Mishnah. A collective learning project, a siyum, of this…
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VaYeshev 5776: “Whodunit?”
A terrible crime takes place in this week’s parasha. Who is guilty? The crime is the kidnapping and sale of Yosef. Few crimes are as cruel and the Torah itself includes a severe punishment for one who…
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VaYetzei 5776: “My Father Was a Syrian Refugee”
“Many of those who seek entrance into this country have little concept of our form of government. Many of them come from lands where [a dangerous ideology] had its first growth and dominates the political thought…
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Toldot 5776: “Prophetic Ambiguity”
David Ben Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel was a short man but a larger than life figure. In addition to an outsized role in Israel’s first governments, he was a dominant figure in Israel’s…
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Chayei Sara 5776: “Sovereignty and Sanctity”
Consider Avraham as a very old man, a widower, following the death of his beloved wife. Had Avraham been faithful to his covenant with God? Without a doubt. He left his birthplace, his homeland, and his father’s…
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Vayera 5776: “The Courage of Our Convictions”
In the years of hosting guests at my Shabbat and yom tov table, my greatest regret is that I never kicked anyone out of my house. Allow me to explain. I first enrolled as a student at…
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Ha’Azinu 5776: “Holy Guacamole”
I have a halakhic riddle. But before I ask the riddle I need to provide some background information. The year that just recently ended, 5775, was a shemita year, a Sabbatical year, when many times of…
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Yom Kippur 5776: “Before I Was Born I Did Not Exist”
I. There was once a man who moved to a new city just a few days before a family wedding. Since he was new to the city he did not yet have a regular dry cleaner and…
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Rosh Hashanah Day 2 5776: “The Shul and the City”
I. Jews cannot agree about anything. Looking around today, at our shul, at other congregations in this city, and at synagogues of every denomination and every variety in every corner of the world, you might think that there…
Rabbi David Wolkenfeld 