Finalize plans with the extended family? Check. Plan out the menu? Check. Order the meat? Check. Clean the house? Check. Polish the silver? Check. Put out the good china? Check. Find something for the kids to wear to services? Check. Run around for weeks on end until you’re too exhausted...
The Chutzpah of the Book of Ruth (A Shavuot Teaching led by Rabbi Sacks on May 26, 2023) Consider: What do you think is the theme of the Book of Ruth? Ideas: chesed (lovingkindness), conversion to or reaffirmation of Judaism, loyalty. What we don’t point out is...
Avodat HaShem: From Korbanot to T’fillah (A Shavuot Teaching led by Student Rabbi Maayan Lev on May 26, 2023) My teaching this Shavuot has to do with korbanot (sacrifices). Why choose to talk about sacrifices, of all things? Because while we all love Torah (as we should), for many...
Torah: A Minute to Learn, a Lifetime to Master By Maayan Lev Shavuot commemorates when Moses received the Torah from G!d on Mt. Sinai. It’s a joyous holiday, but if you said that to a non-Jew, they would probably be very surprised at how we express that joy. The hallmark...
Writing Our Song: A Reflection on Our Year of Learning (Teaching/D’var Torah delivered by Rabbi Sacks on May 22, 2022 on the occasion of our siyyum, the conclusion of our year of learning) We will be arriving at Mount Sinai spiritually once again as continue our way through the...
Another Tishah B’Av: On Jacob and Esau, Ukraine and Russia (delivered by Rabbi Sacks at a service for Ukraine on March 13, 2022)[1] To frame why we are here in a Jewish perspective, I would like to share a passage from the Jerusalem Talmud. The passage dates from well...
From the Rabbi’s Study Purim: Life Needs Farce and Fantasy The Scroll of Esther (M’gilat Ester) contains a melodramatic tale of court intrigue, not unlike what one might find in the Arabian Nights. The outlines of its story are well-known, but in reading the tale, questions abound. Why...
