Category: Year
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VaYechi 5784: “Instruments of Cruelty”
Before we were married, before we were even formally engaged to be married, Sara and I each spent a portion of the summer of 2001 studying Torah in Israel. The terror wave that characterized the Second…
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VaYeshev 5784: “Between Persecution and Salvation”
When Sara, Noam, and I lived in Jerusalem we befriended a Christian family whom I met in the playground. There was some exchange among the parents where my ability to speak both in English and Hebrew…
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VaYetzei 5784: “Gratitude”
One who has been held captive and been released, and also someone who has recovered from a dangerous illness and also one who has completed a dangerous journey, whether by land or by sea, should recite…
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Lekh Lekha 5784: “And You Shall Be a Blessing”
I never get as much done “after the hagim” as I hope to. There are always too many deferred plans and meetings and tasks to accomplish when the holiday season comes to an end. I am…
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Yom Kippur 5784: “Qualitative & Quantitative”
Three books are opened on Rosh Hashanah. The fully righteous are written and sealed immediately for life. The fully wicked are written and sealed immediately for death. And those in the middle have their judgment suspended…
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Rosh Hashanah Day 2 5784: “Education and Choice”
When I was a teenager, whenever my friends did something slightly edgy, we would say to one another, “what you just did is illegal in 5 states.” Well, times have changed and federalism is fun, and I…
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Rosh Hashanah Day 1 5784: “Writing the End of the Story”
There are sad stories, and there are happy stories and there are Jewish stories. As every student of drama and literature knows, tragedies end in a funeral; comedies end with a wedding. Everyone attending a Shakespearean…
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Nitzavim-Vayeilech 5783: “Today”
When David Ben Gurion made his first state visit to the United States as prime minister of Israel he gave a speech about the power of Jewish memory. How many Americans, he asked, know what day…
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Ki Teitzei 5783: “The Place He Shall Choose”
Where can God be found? Perhaps the most comprehensive and famous answer given to that question was formulated by the 20th century Jewish philosopher, Uncle Moishy, who declared, “Hashem is here. Hashem is there. Hashem is…
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Shoftim 5783: “Community Standards”
About eighteen months ago a small boutique bakery opened steps away from the shul where I worked at the time. I thought it would be a perfect win-win opportunity if the bakery would agree to kosher…
Rabbi David Wolkenfeld 