Don’t Curse the Darkness, Light a Candle
A Hanukkah Message from Rabbi Rick Jacobs, URJ President In his essay “The Legacy of the Maccabees,” Dr. Shaye Cohen writes: “From the perspective of world history and Jewish history, …
D’var Torah for Chayei Sarah
George Gazarek gave this d’var on Friday, Nov 25 There are five Torah portions named after men in the Torah but only one named after a woman: Sarah, the wife …
D’var Torah for Rosh Hashanah
Suzanne Darby gave this d’var on Rosh Hashanah. Abraham’s binding of his son Isaac, the Torah portion our congregation reads each year at Rosh Hashanah, is quite familiar and memorable …
How Yom Kippur is Like Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’
George Gazarek gave this d’var on Yom Kippur. This was in the Reform Judaism Weekly Update last week. I thought it was good enough to share with you this morning. …
New Season in the Spiritual Cycle
By Rabbi Arnold Saltzman This article appeared in the Washington Jewish Week at http://washingtonjewishweek.com/33731/new-season-in-the-spiritual-cycle/editorial-opinion/torah_commentary/ That week’s Torah portion was Nitzavim, Deuteronomy 29:9 – 30:20. The synagogue poet Ruth Brin wrote, …
D’var Torah for Re’eh
Nancy Gould gave this d’var when she led the Sep. 2 Shabbat evening service. This week’s parsha is Re-eh, which means “see.” It starts out with G-d telling the Israelites, …
D’var Torah for Parashot Matot and Massei
Paul Kanterman gave this d’var Friday, Aug 5. The portions for this week are Matot and Massei which mean tribes and journeys respectively. They detail a part of the journey …
D’var Torah for D’Varim
Nancy Gould gave this d’var Saturday, Aug 13. This week’s parsha is D’varim, which begins the book of Deuteronomy. Moses gives his final address to the people of Israel and …
D’var Torah for Shelach-Lekha
by George Gazarek George gave this d’var Friday, July 1. Nine years ago, on the night of June 8, 2007, I chanted a few lines from the Torah portion for …
Rabbi’s Sermon: “Elie Wiesel: Survivor and Conscience of the Mankind”
by Rabbi Arnold Saltzman In Manhattan, New York, on July 2, 2016, Elie Wiesel passed away at the age of 87. The name Elie is short for Eliezer. He was …