Sermons
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In 1954, Senator Lyndon Johnson added a few lines to the Federal Tax code that was signed into law by President Eisenhower. The so-called “Johnson Amendment” forbade any 501(c)3 non-profit organization or religious organization from endorsing a candidate in any election or endorsing or condemning any specific piece of legislation. The motivation of the amendment…
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In Parashat VaYigash the story of Yosef and the story of Yehudah and the story of Yaakov all reach a climax. As these strands of the story are closer and closer breaded together, each of these heroes has the opportunity to interact with or confront Pharaoh and they take very different tacks. When Yosef reveals his…
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Many years ago, when I was a college student spending Hannukah at my mother’s apartment, we gathered ogether with some of her closest friends to light candles. One of them, who could have been an Upper West Side Jew ordered from Central-Casting turned to me, just before we lit candles and said, “when you think…
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Our parashah this morning tells of Yosef ’s rise as the favored son of the patriarch Jacob, the owner of his own coat of many colors and the teller of dreams that appear to be delusions of grandeur. Yosef then finds himself at the bottom of a bit, left to die by his own brothers. He then…
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During the first year that I learned at Yeshivat Hamivtar, I took advantage of the pre-dinner break each day to exercise. Usually I went jogging alone along the security path that wended its way over and through the hills that surrounded Efrat, but I was convinced to join my classmates on a few occasions who played soccer…
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We used to tell visitors that the only kosher restaurant in Princeton was our kitchen. As such, we developed a tradition of hosting the graduating seniors and their parents for a BBQ dinner the evening prior to graduation. The kosher dining hall was already closed at that time of year; the students and their parents needed someplace to…
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When our eldest child Noam was 6 months old or so, a professional mentor of mine saw him and said, “Oh what a cute baby! It’s so great when they are at an age when it is still impossible to be angry at them.” I had no idea what she meant. Eleven years later I understand.…
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Ten years ago, Sara and I along with “Baby Noam,” were starting our lives as graduate students in Jerusalem. I was learning each day at Yeshivat Har Etzion, Sara was studying at Beit Morashah in Talpiyot, and we all lived in the German Colony. At this very same time of year, as we were still…
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Some of you may know that our brothers and sisters in Israel are suffering through an acute crisis right now. It is a crisis that could have been predicted—indeed it was predicted many years ago—and yet it is still causing panic and confusion as events predicted long ago come to fruition. Of course, I am…
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The opposite of a truth is a lie. But the opposite of a profound truth, is sometimes another profound truth. This quote, attributed to the physicist Neils Bohr, is illustrated by the Torah readings on the first and second days of Rosh Hashanah. They express conflict and debate between two protagonists and between two distinct…
- Parasha
- Acharei Mot
- Acharei Mot-Kedoshim
- Baha'alotcha
- Balak
- Bamidbar
- Behar
- Behar-Behukotai
- Behukotai
- Bereishit
- Beshalach
- Bo
- Chayei Sara
- Devarim
- Eikev
- Emor
- Ha'Azinu
- Hol HaMoed Sukkot
- Hukkat
- Hukkat-Balak
- Kedoshim
- Ki Teitzei
- Ki Tissa
- Kol Nidre
- Korach
- Lekh Lekha
- Ma'asei
- Matot
- Matot Ma'asei
- Miketz
- Mishpatim
- Naso
- Nitzavim
- Nitzavim-Vayeilech
- Noach
- Pekudei
- Pinchas
- Re'eh
- Rosh Hashanah
- Shavuot
- Shekalim
- Shemot
- Shimini Atzeret
- Shlach
- Shmini
- Shoftim
- Tazria
- Tazria Metzora
- Terumah
- Tetzaveh
- Toldot
- Tzav
- Va'Etchanan
- Vaera
- Vayakhel
- Vayakhel-Pekudei
- VaYechi
- Vayeilech
- Vayera
- VaYeshev
- VaYetzei
- VaYigash
- Vayikra
- VaYishlach
- Yitro
- Yom Ha'atzmaut
- Yom Kippur
- Shavuot
- Year
Rabbi David Wolkenfeld 